FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Feroz Abbasi

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects Mr. Feroz Abbasi, a constituent, will return to the UK; and whether Mr. Abbasi is being offered legal representation.

Denis MacShane: We remain in regular contact with the US authorities over the situation of the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay. We have had no indication from the US authorities concerning Mr. Abbasi's return to the UK. Mr. Abbasi is not being offered access to legal representation at Guantanamo Bay.

Kashmir

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Governments of India and Pakistan on Kashmir.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary regularly raises our concerns in relation to Kashmir with the Governments of India and Pakistan, including during his most recent visit to the region on 18 to 20 July, and in his meetings with Indian Foreign Minister Sinha on 30 and 31 October in London, and with new Pakistani Foreign Minister Kasuri on 2 December in Bonn. Kashmir was also among the range of issues discussed during my visit to India on 16 to 20 October.

Iran

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to help the Iranian authorities to improve their human rights record.

Mike O'Brien: We frequently raise human rights issues with the Iranian authorities at all levels. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the subject with the Iranian Foreign Minister on 2 December.
	We support the EU-Iran dialogue on human rights, with the aim of bringing about improvements in Iran's respect for human rights.
	We support dialogue with practical bilateral assistance (#230,000 since last year) through NGOs, for the judiciary, Prison Service and growth of civil society.

Middle East Peace Process

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of recent developments in Israel on the peace process.

Mike O'Brien: We look to the next Israeli Government, whoever leads it, to engage with the Palestinians and the international community in the implementation of the Quartet roadmap within the timeframe set out by President Bush on 24 June.

Middle East Peace Process

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the roadmap process for peace in the middle east.

Mike O'Brien: The Quartet (the US, EU, UN and Russia) are agreeing a roadmap for progress towards a comprehensive settlement by 2005. They will be meeting on 20 December to review progress. When the roadmap is published, we will work with the international community to implement it. A conference of the parties involved in the peace process should be a key element of that roadmap.

Middle East Peace Process

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made towards establishing a Middle East Peace Conference to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Mike O'Brien: The Quartet (the US, EU, UN and Russia) are agreeing a roadmap for progress towards a comprehensive settlement by 2005. They will be meeting on 20 December to review progress. When the roadmap is published we will work with the international community to implement it. A conference of the parties involved in the peace process should be a key element of that roadmap.

Sudan

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what help he is offering to further the reconciliation process in Sudan.

Bill Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier in the House today to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-West (Mr. Best).

No Fly Zones (Iraq)

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on allied action in the event of Iraqi attack against allied airplanes in the no-fly zone.

Mike O'Brien: Since late 1998, Iraq has waged a systematic campaign to shoot down allied aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones. This is contrary to international law and inconsistent with UN resolutions. We only take action to protect our aircrew. UK and US pilots are authorised to respond to Iraqi attack in self-defence.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on UN plans for a settlement in Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: I understand the United Nations has tabled today to the two leaders in Cyprus an adjustment to their proposal of 11 November for a settlement to the Cyprus problem. We fully support the United Nations' efforts to secure a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement in Cyprus.
	We now have within grasp an historic opportunity to reunite Cyprus, and to invite a reunited Cyprus to accede to the EU at the Copenhagen European Council this week.
	I urge the two leaders not to let this opportunity slip between their fingers.

Cyprus

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the removal of Turkish troops from Cyprus as part of a settlement.

Mike O'Brien: The Government support the UN proposals for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus, which allow for there to be between 1,000 and 9,999 troops from both Greece and Turkey on the island. It is of course for the two sides in Cyprus to agree a settlement, but we believe the UN proposals to be workable and fair.

Cyprus

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice his Department provides to UK nationals of the Greek Cypriot community wishing to claim compensation for loss of land incurred as a consequence of the 1974 invasion; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The proposals from the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a comprehensive settlement of Cyprus include arrangements for compensation to those who lost land in 1974. Her Majesty's Government are strongly urging both sides to settle on the basis of the UN plan. When, and if, a settlement has been agreed Her Majesty's Government will ensure that UK citizens who may qualify for compensation are properly informed.

Cyprus

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is with regard to the granting of compensation to those Greek Cypriots who lost land as a consequence of the 1974 invasion; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The Government fully support the UN proposal for a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus Problem. Our aim is for a reunited Cyprus to be invited, at the Copenhagen European Council, to accede to the EU. We are urging both sides to come to a settlement before 12 December.
	The UN proposals contain provisions on the four core issues, including property and territory, which involve difficult compromises on both sides. While it is for the two sides in Cyprus to agree on details, the Government are of the view that the UN Secretary-General's proposals protect the interests of both sides and are a basis for agreement.

Taiwan

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the Government of the People's Republic of China about Taiwan.

Bill Rammell: On 15 July, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary told the Chinese Foreign Minister that our position on Taiwan had not changed. We acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China, but we conducted discussions with the Taiwanese authorities on WTO-related trade issues.

West Africa

Ken Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of France on relations between the UK and France in West Africa.

Bill Rammell: In September at the UN General Assembly, the Foreign Secretary and his French counterpart, Mr. Dominique De Villepin, jointly hosted a breakfast seminar on XNew Partnership for Africa's Development" (NEPAD) with Foreign Ministers from 10 African countries.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last met Mr. De Villepin on 7 October to discuss the strengthening of the St. Malo accord and Franco-British co-operation in Africa. The Foreign Secretary thanked Mr. De Villepin for French assistance in evacuating British nationals caught up in the crisis in Ivory Coast.
	This discussion also touched on issues such as further practical co-operation in the areas of conflict management, and the implementation of the peace and security aspects of the G8 Africa Action Plan.
	Furthermore, the Foreign Secretary has regular exchanges with Mr. De Villepin on a range of African issues, either by telephone or correspondence.
	Our two countries are working together in the United Nations and through the European Union to ensure an holistic and strategic approach by the international community to conflict management in Africa. Indeed, we aim to further cement our co-operation in Africa at the Franco-British summit early next year.

Central Africa

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Rwanda, the Congo and the Great Lakes region.

Bill Rammell: The Great Lakes are dominated by the DRC and Burundi conflicts. The Pretoria Agreement (30 July) has seen Rwandan forces leave DRC. The DRC Government must now deal with the anti-Rwandan militia in DRC, and agree a transitional Government with the rebels (MLC and RCD-Goma).
	In Burundi, South African and Tanzanian mediation has sought a ceasefire between the Government and the FDD/FNL rebels. Agreement was reached on 3 December with the FDD. Questions remain on how this will be implemented and the implications for the FNL.

Hong Kong

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on proposals to alter the basic law on Hong Kong, with particular reference to Article 23.

Bill Rammell: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has published outline proposals—but not yet draft legislation—on implementing Article 23. We have made clear to them that any legislation should be consistent with the principles of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and the two UN human rights covenants.

Bangladesh

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Bangladeshi Government over religious persecution in that country.

Mike O'Brien: Our High Commission in Dhaka monitor closely reports of human rights abuses in Bangladesh. They have raised allegations of attacks against minorities on several occasions with the Bangladesh Government, both at a senior level in Dhaka and with regional government officials, encouraging them to investigate all allegations fully. This issue was also included in discussions in October between the visiting UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and senior members of the Bangladesh Government. The High Commissioner was present.

Iraq

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the way commercial oil interests would be affected by a war against Iraq.

Bill Rammell: No decision has been taken to launch military action against Iraq. However, if military action were to occur, we do not believe that the loss of Iraqi oil supplies, even for an extended period of time, would significantly disrupt the fundamental balance of supply and demand in the world market.

Human Rights

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the human rights position in (a) Tibet and (b) China.

Bill Rammell: We continue to have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet. We welcome, however, the releases this year of several Tibetan prisoners, including Ngawang Choepel, Chadrel Rinpoche, Jigme Zangpo and Ngawang Sangdrol. All of these were on the list of individual cases of concern that we have raised with the Chinese Government. We have also welcomed, along with EU partners, the recent visit of the Dalai Lama's representatives to China. We encourage both sides to continue to use dialogue to find a peaceful resolution to the Tibetan issue.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised human rights issues when he visited China in July; my hon. Friend the Minister did the same when he visited in September; there have been two further rounds of the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue (in May and November) at which a wide range of human rights issues were discussed, including Tibet.

Visas (China)

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the new regime in China with respect to progress with changes to the visa regime.

Bill Rammell: Although the 16th Communist Party Congress in Beijing last month appointed a new Party leadership, China's new state leadership will not be elected until the National People's congress in March 2002. We have no plans to change our visa regime for Chinese nationals wishing to enter the UK.

Amina Lawal

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Nigerian Government in the case of Amina Lawal.

Bill Rammell: In September my noble Friend Baroness Amos, the Minister for Africa, raised with President Obasanjo HMG's concerns about the harsh sentences imposed under the Sharia penal codes. She emphasised the strength of feeling against them in the UK and reiterated HMG's opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances. The High Commission, together with EU partners, regularly raises our concerns about the sentences with the appropriate authorities in Nigeria.

Turkey

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit Turkey to discuss Turkey's relations with the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Ankara on 3 and 4 December and held meetings with the Turkish President, Prime Minister and other leaders.
	He reaffirmed the UK's strong support for Turkey's membership of the EU and expressed the hope that the Copenhagen European Council would offer a firm date for accession negotiations to begin. He made clear that this would be on the basis of Turkey fulfilling the relevant criteria.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the report of the UN Export Panel in respect of the exploitation of resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bill Rammell: The UK and other members of the Security Council are waiting for information to substantiate the claims made in the panel's latest report. The current panel's mandate expired on 18 October, and there is now no mechanism in place to take forward the panel's work. We are pressing, through discussions at the UN for a speedy resolution to this problem.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK is doing to secure international action to help prevent war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bill Rammell: The UK has supported the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is best placed to consider appropriate action to address accusations of war crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN Counter-Terrorism Committee

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the United Nations.

Bill Rammell: Under UK chairmanship, the UK Counter-Terrorism Committee has now reviewed 180 initial and 100 follow-up reports from states setting out the actions they have taken to comply with UNSCR 1373. The committee has sent 206 letters requesting further information on these points to states and international organisations.
	The committee has focussed in its initial reviews on states' abilities to counter the financing of terrorism, and their progress in ratifying the 12 UN Counter-Terrorism conventions.
	The committee has also begun to compile requests from states for technical assistance towards reaching the standards set by UNSCR 1373. The committee continues to discuss such requests with suitable potential donors.

EU Enlargement

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a further statement on EU enlargement.

Denis MacShane: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier in the House today to my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Joyce).

Exports

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department's posts have given to British companies seeking to export to South East Asia in the last six months.

Bill Rammell: During the period of 1 June 2002 to 30 November 2002, commercial staff in posts in South East Asia met and briefed 1,091 individual British business visitors; responded to 57 chargeable inquiries from British companies; received, briefed and provided support to 285 participants in 22 trade missions and 339 participants in 22 events under the Support for Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad scheme; visited 370 local companies to introduce British goods and services; issued 606 sales leads to British customers of Trade Partners UK's Sales Leads Service; lobbied on behalf of 44 British companies and organised 36 seminars and other promotional events to introduce British exporters to markets in South East Asia.

Sierra Leone

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Sierra Leone.

Bill Rammell: Good progress has been made in restoring peace to Sierra Leone. Disarmament was completed and the war declared over in January 2002. Credible and peaceful elections were held in May. Nonetheless, much remains to be done to consolidate the fragile peace. The UN peacekeeping mission, UNAMSIL, remains deployed throughout the country. It has begun to withdraw, in a phased process, which should last 18–20 months.
	The UK continues to play a leading role in building a lasting peace. Key post-conflict challenges include helping the Government of Sierra Leone to:
	reform the security sector;
	train and strengthen the capacity of the armed forces and police;
	reintegrate former combatants, returning refugees and the internally displaced;
	tackle corruption;
	promote justice (including through the establishment of the Sierra Leone Special Court) and reconciliation (through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission);
	introduce policies for managing and securing the diamond fields;
	strengthen democratic institutions and civil society;
	put in place effective public administration and management of public finances, rebuild the country's basic infrastructure and services; and
	develop industry and the economy.
	The UK is committing over #120 million of development assistance, including substantial budgetary support, to Sierra Leone over the next three years. This is in addition to our ongoing commitment of over 100 UK military personnel to the UK-led International Military and Advisory Training Team (IMATT). We continue to provide substantial support to humanitarian agencies.
	The ongoing conflict in Liberia, and President Taylor's regime, which has not yet met the demands of the Security Council and continues to breach UN sanctions, remain a threat to the peace in Sierra Leone. Through the Liberia Contact Group and other mechanisms we are seeking a peaceful solution and real reform in Liberia.

Burundi

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the status of the ceasefire talks between CNDD-FDD and the transitional Government of Burundi.

Bill Rammell: A ceasefire agreement was signed on 2 December 2002 in Arusha between the CNDD-FDD and the Transitional National Government of Burundi.

Iraq (Human Rights)

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the evidential basis is for his statements on pages 4, 8 and 9 of his document XSaddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuse", concerning the treatment of women.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 5 December 2002
	There is no statement about Iraqi women on page 4 of the report. Statements on pages 8 and 9 of the report are from sources including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other NGOs.

Private Finance Initiative

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what PFI/PPP projects each of the security services has been engaged in; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The only PFI project involving the security and intelligence agencies is the provision and servicing of new accommodation for GCHQ.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Clergy

Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if he will ask the Church Commissioners to benchmark the employment rights of UK clergy in comparison to those in other EU countries.

Stuart Bell: This would be a matter for the Archbishops' Council's Ministry Division. The Council has no plans to do so. Such a benchmarking exercise would be difficult to devise in view of the very wide range of employment rights applicable to clergy in other EU countries. Some clergy have little formal protection while others are employed on the equivalent of civil service terms.

Tenancy Rights

Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners if he will make a statement on the tenancy rights of clergy who live in church properties.

Stuart Bell: Incumbents have ownership as a corporation sole of their parsonage houses, although their power to dispose of their houses is qualified. Their ownership ends on resignation, retirement or with pastoral reorganisation, or on removal from office for disciplinary offences, pastoral breakdown or if they become too infirm to continue in ministry. The rights and responsibilities of incumbents with respect to their houses are laid down in the Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure 1972.
	Team rectors have the same security as incumbents for the term of years for which they are appointed. Unless they resign or reach retirement age, they can only be removed from office during the period of their licences for disciplinary offences, on grounds of serious pastoral breakdown or infirmity.
	Other clergy, about 40 per cent., do not have freehold of office. They include priests in charge and assistant curates. They may occupy their accommodation by virtue of licences under which they themselves would ordinarily make no rental payment. In these circumstances an occupier would not be entitled to remain in possession after the licence came to an end.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will name those persons she appointed to public bodies in October.

Patricia Hewitt: The names of the individuals appointed to DTI public bodies during the course of October, the bodies to which they were appointed and the effective date of the appointments have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Broadband Advisers

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the application of Nolan Rules to the appointment of (a) a city councillor and (b) deputy chairman of a regional assembly as a full-time DTI regional broadband advisor.

Stephen Timms: The 12 men and women appointed as regional broadband advisers or coordinators, who form part of the UK Broadband Task Force, are contract employees or secondees from industry and not civil servants. They were selected on merit through open competition and a range of backgrounds was sought to give the Task Force the necessary mix of skills and experience. In the case of the South West region, the political activities of the successful candidate were set out in full in his application.

Carbon Trust

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding has been allocated by the Carbon Trust; and who has received allocations.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	The Carbon Trust was launched in April 2001 to support UK business and the public sector in reducing their Carbon emissions while maintaining competitiveness. The Carbon Trust is a private non-profit company that receives funding of around #50 million per annum from Defra and the Devolved Administrations. About two-thirds of its current funding comes from recycled receipts from the Climate Change Levy. As a private company the management of its programmes and decisions on the allocation of funding, are a matter for the Carbon Trust Board.

Counterfeit Goods

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for trading counterfeit goods, broken down by type, under the Trademarks Act 1994, in each year since 1994.

Melanie Johnson: Information about the number of prosecutions under the Trade Mark Act 1994 is not currently collated centrally and would cost a disproportionate amount to collect.

Counterfeit Goods

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for trading counterfeit goods, broken down by type, under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, in each of the last ten years.

Melanie Johnson: Annex Dl of the Office of Fair Trading's Annual Report 2001 contains details of local authority prosecutions under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 for 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 (www.oft.gov.uk/News/Annual+report/annexes.htm). These tables are compiled from information supplied voluntarily by the local authority trading standards service and environmental health departments.

Departmental Posts

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many ethnic minority persons are employed at each grade in her Department.

Patricia Hewitt: We monitor ethnicity through a voluntary survey of staff. The latest data show that 659 persons have indicated that they are of ethnic minority origin. The table gives a breakdown of that number according to DTI ranges.
	
		
			 DTI Range Number of persons 
		
		
			 2 44 
			 3 60 
			 4 180 
			 5 67 
			 6 122 
			 7 39 
			 8 69 
			 9 29 
			 10 30 
			 11 14 
			 Senior civil servant 5 
			 Total 659 
		
	
	
		
			 DTI Ranges Civil Service Grade Equivalent 
		
		
			 2 AA 
			 3 and 4 AO 
			 5 and 6 EO 
			 7 and 8 HEO 
			 9 SEO 
			 10 Grade 7 
			 11 Grade 6 
			 Senior civil servant

Foreign Investment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the recent comments of the Chief Executive of British Trade International, regarding the effect on foreign investment of regulation.

Patricia Hewitt: Sir Stephen Brown's comments on regulation were seriously misrepresented by The Times. Sir Stephen stated that inward investors liked the UK's light regulatory regime and low taxation compared with our continental neighbours. The UK is the number one location in Europe for inward investment. We aim to keep it there.

Insurance Premiums

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what plans she has to meet representatives of the building, construction and roofing industries to discuss the level of insurance premiums;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the impact of changes in insurance costs on construction and building (a) profitability and (b) training;
	(3)  what her Department estimates will be the impact on employment in the construction industry as a result of changes in insurance premium tax.

Brian Wilson: Earlier this year my hon. Friend the Minister for Construction met my noble Friend Lord Pendry and a delegation from the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) to discuss rising insurance premiums and the impact on the demolition industry. There have also been a number of meetings between construction industry trade associations and my officials to discuss concerns about increased premiums in the Industry. We are keen to have the views of all affected industries, including building, construction and roofing, on the forthcoming review of the Employer Liability Insurance scheme being led by the Department of Work and Pensions. This review was announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his pre-budget report and further details will be announced shortly.
	There is no simple answer to the impact of changes in insurance costs on construction and building profitability or levels of training.
	The rise in insurance premiums is due to a number of factors, including the rise in the use of litigation, insurance companies clawing back losses from previous years (September 11 effect); a change in risk profiles within industries (effect of asbestos risk and other occupational injuries within construction); and better modelling of individual company risk. We do not yet know, however, which of these effects predominates.
	The impact on profitability and training will depend on which of these effects predominates.
	There has been no change to the current 5 per cent. rate of insurance premium tax (IPT) since July 1999. I am not aware of any impact on employment in the construction industry as a result of changes to the IPT rate before that date.

Trade Promotion

Gavin Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what facilities exist for the promotion of trade between the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand; which Australian companies have over #10 million invested in the UK; and which UK companies have over #10 million invested in Australia.

Nigel Griffiths: Trade Partners UK (TPUK) organises a wide range of activities designed to promote trade between the UK and Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These include assisting British companies through schemes like the Outward Mission Support Scheme, the Inward Mission Support Scheme, and the Support for Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad Scheme. Much of this assistance is aimed at helping companies to prepare for and enter these overseas markets for the first time.
	An example of this is Export Canada. This is specifically aimed at SMEs that are new or inexperienced exporters; it is a mentoring programme which outlines the current state of the market for companies' products/services, and offers advice on marketing in North America and exhibiting at trade fairs.
	The TPUK network delivers services coordinated by British Trade International, the organisation set up in May 1999 to take lead responsibility within Government for trade development and promotion.
	The DTI has been notified of the following Australian companies that have indicated that they would invest #10 million or more over a three year period in the UK. These are AMP, Amcor Packaging (Europe) Ltd., Colonial Ltd., Hamilton Oil Company Ltd., Lend Lease Corporation Ltd., QBE Insurance Group Ltd., Medical Imaging Australia Ltd., Sims Mclntyre Metals Ltd., Sky Television Plc, Spotless Group Ltd., and Wine Planet.
	Numerous British companies have significant investment in Australia. However the DTI does not collate such information and no comprehensive record of investment by UK companies in Australia is held centrally. According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, the book value of UK investment in Australia at the end of 2000 was #10 billion.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Combined Heat and Power

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the installed capacity for combined heat and power in the UK is; and how many combined heat and power plants in the United Kingdom (a) currently operate and (b) are due to become operational before 2010.

Elliot Morley: The DTI's UK Digest of Energy Statistics gives a figure of 4,801 MWe at the end of 2001 for good quality CHP capacity in 1,573 plants. The number of plants currently operational is largely unchanged. There is no Government estimate of the number of plants due to become operational before 2010.

Combined Heat and Power

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will announce the funding for the Horticultural Research Institute for the next five years.

Elliot Morley: We are now studying the results of a public consultation exercise on the Quinquennial Review of Horticulture Research International which was published on 23 September. We hope to be able to make an announcement shortly.

Cod Stocks

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has evaluated into the effect of the three-year-old cod recovery programme in the Irish Sea on cod stocks.

Elliot Morley: The Government have reviewed the information collected for the annual assessment of stocks by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and groundfish surveys conducted this year. There is some evidence that fishing mortality has reduced and that there has been a small increase in cod spawning stock biomass—although the latter is still well outside safe biological limits. There is, however, no definitive evidence that these are due solely to the recovery plan nor that they can be sustained without further significant action.

Coffee Market

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will raise the coffee rescue plan at the forthcoming International Coffee Organisation meeting.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 December 2002
	Oxfam launched its report XMugged: poverty in your coffee cup", which included their coffee rescue plan, at the International Coffee Organisation on 18 September 2002 . The plan has, therefore, already been raised in that forum. The UK is currently engaged in dialogue with interested parties about the Oxfam report.
	DEFRA will represent the UK at the meeting of the ICO on May 2003, as part of the EU delegation. The UK will use its input into the meeting to continue to press for greater sustainability in coffee production.

Departmental Grants

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the grants funded by her Department for which individual members of the public and organisations may apply; and if she will make a statement as to (a) the total of such funding in the last financial year, (b) the total number of awards and (c) their administrative costs.

Alun Michael: Across the whole range of DEFRA's responsibilities there are a considerable number of grants available to individuals and groups and their size and scope varies enormously. For that reason the information requested is supplied by subject area as follows
	Land Use and Rural Affairs
	The table gives the breakdown of DEFRA's direct expenditure by grant scheme. Because of disproportionate cost, these figures do not include grant schemes administered by our non-departmental public bodies and agencies in pursuance of their responsibilities carried out on DEFRA's behalf. These include the Countryside Agency, English Nature, National Parks, Broads Authority and the regional development agencies.
	
		
			 Grant Scheme(1) Funding 2001–02 (#000) New awards in 2001–02 
		
		
			 Leader II 1,200,000 0 
			 Objective 5b 24,500,000 0 
			 Objective 1 37,660,000 36 
			 Farm waste grant scheme 23,000 5 
			 Farm business advice service 7,000,000 4,411 
			 Planning consultancy advice scheme 107,000 134 
			 
			 ERDP (10 schemes) 167,200,000 26,089 
			 Rural stress action plan 300,000 3 
			 Total 237,990,000 30,678 
		
	
	(1) The administration of grant programmes is carried out by a number of different units within the Department to which a range of staff make a contribution. It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of these costs centrally.
	Environment
	
		
			 Grant scheme(2) Funding 2001–02 (#) Awards 
		
		
			 Darwin Initiative for Biodiversity Projects 3,000,000 31 new projects 47 existing projects 
			 Section 13 of the Industrial Development Act 112,000 6 awards 
			 National Security in the Water Industry 2,900,000 15 projects 
			 XEnvironmental Know-How" Fund (Funded jointly with DfID. DEFRA funded #2 million of the total grants in 2001–02) 6,975,000 42 projects 
			 Environmental Action Fund 4,200,000 112 grants 
			 Energy Saving Trust (funded jointly with DTI, DfT and the devolved Administrations, as well as by the private sector). 22,000,000(3) About 10 per cent. of DEFRA's funding was used for grants. 
			 Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (now marketed as the Warm Front Team) Over 154,000,000 Installed heating and insulation measures in some 310,000 fuel poor homes 
		
	
	(2) The administration of grant programmes is carried out by a number of different units within the Department to which a range of staff make a contribution. It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of these costs centrally.
	(3) About 10 per cent. of which was used for grants.
	Fisheries
	DEFRA administers the EU fisheries grants in the Objective 1 areas of Cornwall and Merseyside and in the areas of England outside Objective 1. Figures are held by calendar year, not financial year. The amounts of EU and national grant awarded in 2001, and the numbers of awards were as follows:
	
		
			 EU fisheries grants(4) EU and national grant (#) in 2001 Awards 
		
		
			 Cornwall 2,752,835 40 
			 Merseyside 2,250 1 
			 Areas of England outside Objective(4) 6,802,764 46 
		
	
	(4) The administration of grant programmes is carried out by a number of different units within the Department to which a range of staff make a contribution. It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of these costs centrally.
	Food and Farming
	
		
			 Grant Scheme Funding 2001–02 (#) Awards Admin. costs  
		
		
			 Pig Industry Restructuring Scheme 13,860,399 890 35,554 
			 Agriculture Development Scheme(5),(6) 877,762 28 — 
			 Sector Challenge Scheme(6),(7) 104,085 8 — 
		
	
	(5) Grants awarded between 1999 and 2000—28 beneficiaries received payments totalling #877,762 in 2001–02.
	(6) Changes in the organisation of work mean that a separate administration figure for these schemes could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	(7) Grants awarded in 1997—eight beneficiaries received payments totalling #104,085 in 2001–02 (this scheme is now closed)

Environment Agency

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who sets the annual Environment Agency budget in the Wessex region; and who is responsible for controlling budgets in regions.

Michael Meacher: The Agency does not have a Wessex region. That region of the former National Rivers Authority (the Agency's predecessor body) was subsumed within the Agency's south west region on its establishment in 1995.
	With the exception of its flood defence functions, the Environment Agency determines its own regional budgets. The delivery of local plans within budget are managed by the appropriate Agency regional management team led by the Regional Director.
	Budgets for the Agency's flood defence function are set by local executive flood defence committees who also receive progress reports. Although the Wessex region disappeared, a Wessex region flood defence committee remains.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will calculate the total percentage reduction in the number of days at sea proposed by the European Commission for 2003 for vessels capturing and landing (a) over 100 tonnes of cod and (b) less than 100 tonnes of cod in the (i) North Sea, (ii) Irish Sea, (iii) West of Scotland Waters, (iv) ICES Area VIId and (v) ICES Area VIIe;
	(2)  if she will calculate the percentage reduction in the number of days at sea proposed by the European Commission for 2003 for vessels capturing and landing (a) over 100 tonnes of hake and (b) less than 100 tonnes of hake in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea area covering the northern hake stock.

Elliot Morley: The Commission has now adjusted its proposal and no longer envisages a distinction between vessels landing over 100 tonnes of cod or hake and others. We are seeking clarification of the Commission's proposals before undertaking the calculation requested.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are proposed by the European Commission for 2003 to restrict fishing effort for the capture of cod and landing of cod using static gear as a method of capture in the (a) North Sea, (b) West of Scotland Waters, (c) Irish Sea and (d) ICES Area VII.

Elliot Morley: The Commission proposal for effort control envisages limitation of vessels by kilowatt/days. However, the Commission has also indicated that as part of its proposals to reduce discards, it will bring forward proposals next year for technical measures aimed specifically at limiting effort by static gear.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what restrictions are being proposed by the European Commission to the number of days at sea during 2003 for vessels under 10 metres in overall length capturing and landing cod in the ICES Sea Areas (a) North Sea, (b) Irish Sea, (c) West of Scotland Waters, (d) Area VIId and (e) Area VIIe.

Elliot Morley: The Commission proposals envisage cuts in the total number of kw/days for each Member State whose vessels fish cod or hake. However, the Commission proposes that it should be left to Member States to determine which vessels should be restricted in their time at sea and thus whether under 10 metre vessels should be subject to controls.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what restrictions are being proposed by the European Commission for 2003 for vessels capturing and landing cod within the UK 6—mile and 6–12 mile limit in the sea areas (a) North Sea, (b) Irish Sea, (c) West of Scotland Waters, (d) Area VIId and (e) Area VIIe.

Elliot Morley: The measures include the annual TACs–and quotas regulations, the cod and hake recovery plans and the discard action plan.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which sections of the Fisheries Act 1981 and its amendments and attachments will be used to continue the present fisheries management system if no new system is put in place by 1 January 2003.

Elliot Morley: If no new system is put into place on 1 January 2003, the existing CFP arrangements will roll over automatically with one exception. The arrangements providing for restricted access to the six and twelve mile zones will lapse. The Fisheries Act 1981 has no relevance in this regard.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of (a) sand eel and (b) Norway pout Norway has been allowed to catch in European Union waters in each of the last five years.

Elliot Morley: The data requested are set out in the table.
	
		tonnes 
		
			  Norway pout Sand eel 
		
		
			 1998 20,000 30,000 
			 1999 20,000 30,000 
			 2000 20,000 30,000 
			 2001 10,000 30,000 
			 2002 5,000 35,000

Fisheries

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she intends to take to prevent the killing of dolphins in UK waters as a result of fishery bycatch.

Elliot Morley: Reducing the incidental bycatch of small cetaceans will require action on the part of all member states involved in the fisheries concerned, not just the UK. Defra has already committed some #140,000 for trials into the use of exclusion devices developed by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) to reduce the bycatch of cetaceans in pelagic trawl fisheries. The trial has been resumed in order to refine the system and further assess the grid's effectiveness in protecting dolphins and maintaining fish catch rates. If SMRU's trials are not successful, we will look at other mitigating measures and I do not rule out any approach at this stage—including arguing for restrictions on fishing, gear or seasonal closures.

Flooding Incidents

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of flooding have occurred in the last three years where raw sewage was involved in the contamination of people's homes and property; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: OFWAT collects information on the number of properties which have been subject to internal sewage flooding. In 2001–02, there were 4,957 properties flooded in this manner, in 2000–01 7,120 properties, and in 1999–2000, 7,126 properties. The dry winter in 2001–02 contributed to the lower figure in this year.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the United Kingdom greenhouse gas emissions were in (a) 1990 and (b) in each year since 1997; what percentage of these emissions came from the electricity supply industry in (i) 1990 and (ii) in each year since 1997; and what her most recent estimate is of how annual UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 will differ from 1990 levels.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 5 December 2002
	The table shows the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions in 1990 and from 1997 to 2000, the last year for which data are available, and also the percentage of these emissions that came from the electricity supply industry. The rise in emissions between 1999 and 2000 were mainly due to an increased use of coal in the energy mix because of maintenance and repair at nuclear and combined cycle gas turbine stations and higher gas prices.
	We estimate that the policies and measures outlined in the climate change programmes may help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 23 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010, which would be equivalent to about 160 million tonnes of carbon.
	
		
			  1990 1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Greenhouse gases 207.8 191.0 190.7 180.8 181.1 
			 Percentage of emissions from electricity supply industry 27.7 21 21.6 21.8 23.6

Horticulture

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her strategy for horticultural renewal and development.

Elliot Morley: We plan to publish early next year for public comment, a draft Science and Innovation Strategy. This will be accompanied by more detailed proposals for programmes of research including horticulture.

Horticulture

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish Professor Sir Colin Spedding's XVision for Horticulture".

Elliot Morley: Sir Colin Spedding's report XA Vision for Horticulture" was published in draft for consultation on 29 January. The final version of the report, which was substantially unchanged from the draft, was submitted to the Department in March and is available on the Defra website and in the Library of the House.

Horticulture

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of the East Malling Organic Horticultural Research Unit; and when it was completed.

Elliot Morley: The Organic Research Centre cost #2.761 million of which #2.261 million was provided, following a competition for projects, by the Treasury's Capital Modernisation Fund; and #500,000 by the East Mailing Trust for Horticultural Research. The Centre was completed in August 2002 and opened on 20 September 2002.

Horticulture

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) cost and (b) annual salary will be of restructuring HRI after its quinquennial review.

Elliot Morley: The costs of restructuring HRI will depend on the options chosen for successor organisations. We are considering these and hope to make an announcement shortly.

Organic Farming Schemes

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 20 November 2002, Official Report, column 166W, on organic farming schemes, if she will list the beneficiaries under the Organic Farming Scheme and the Organic Aid Scheme as a proportion of the total number of (a) farms and (b) farmers, broken down by region.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 3 December 2002
	Information on the Organic Farming Scheme and the Organic Aid Scheme is held by beneficiary. The latest numbers that we have by beneficiary are as at November 2002 and are as follows:
	
		
			 Region Total 
		
		
			 East Midlands 178 
			 Eastern 160 
			 London 1 
			 North East 51 
			 North West 149 
			 South East 285 
			 South West 873 
			 West Midlands 256 
			 Yorks/Humber 120 
			 Grand Total 2,073 
		
	
	The latest information that we have for the total numbers of (a) holdings and (b) farmers is taken from the June 2001 Agricultural and Horticultural Census. The figures show the total holdings and total full and part-time farmers, partners, directors and spouses if working on the holding.
	
		
			 Region Total holdings Total 
		
		
			 East Midlands Total holdings 19,095 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 25,433 
			 Eastern Total holdings 21,054 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 27,325 
			 London Total holdings 434 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 543 
			 North East Total holdings 6,073 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 8,598 
			 North West Total holdings 21,048 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 28,682 
			 South East Total holdings 22,461 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 27,673 
			 South West Total holdings 44,861 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 57,218 
			 West Midlands Total holdings 23,247 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 31,076 
			 Yorks/Humbs Total holdings 19,661 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 27,280 
			 Grant Total Total holdings 177,934 
			  Farmers, partners, directors and spouses 233,828 
		
	
	Note:
	Spouses are included only if working on the holdings

PSA Targets

David Curry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out (a) financial resources against PSA targets and (b) staff numbers against PSA targets in her Department.

Alun Michael: Defra cannot provide information on financial resources and staffing against each its PSA targets and these will include an analysis of the financial resources and staffing required to deliver each target. We expect the Delivery Plans to be ready for implementation by April 2003 following the confirmation of internal budgets for 2003–4.

Raw Sewage

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason raw sewage was pumped into the River Wylye Special Area of Conservation and SSSI at Hanging Langford near Salisbury on 2 December; who authorised it; if she will set in hand immediate research on the environmental impact; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The emergency discharge of sewage into the river was made to avoid sewer flooding of properties, resulting from inundation of the sewerage system, following exceptionally high levels of rainfall. Such discharges are permitted under the Water Resources Act 1991 and do not require prior authorisation.
	The Environment Agency was informed of the discharge by the water company and inspected the site on 2 December. They found that the water company had provided a screen to minimise the aesthetic effects of the discharge, that the discharge was extremely dilute owing to the volume of water in the system and further diluted by high flow in the river. The Agency is satisfied that the discharge caused no significant environmental impact.

Rural Checklist

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish her Rural Checklist for other Government departments; and if she will list those rural officers in other Government departments responsible for Rural Proofing.

Alun Michael: The Countryside Agency's rural proofing checklist is used across Government for rural proofing and can be viewed on the Agency's website at http://www.countryside.gov.uk/ruralproofing/checklist.htm. Hard copies are also available from the Agency's Rural Proofing Studies Unit at Dacre House, Dacre Street, London, SW1H 0DH. This is also the first point of contact for inquiries regarding rural issues. If necessary, inquiries will be referred by the unit to appropriate contacts across Whitehall. A list of names of departmental rural contacts, who meet regularly, is not published as personnel and machinery of Government changes mean that any published list would be out of date fairly quickly.

Rural Transport

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what rural transport projects have been funded by the Countryside Agency in each of the last three years; what the average time was between the submission of funding proposals for such projects and a decision being made; what the average wait has been for allocation of funding for such projects which have been approved; and how many of these projects which have been approved are awaiting the release of funds.

Alun Michael: The Countryside Agency has funded five transport grant programmes in the past three years on behalf of Defra. The Rural Transport Development Fund merged with the Rural Transport Partnership scheme in March 2001. The Parish Transport Grant has been running since April 2001. These three projects solely fund transport projects in rural areas. Two other schemes, the Wider Welcome and Market Towns programme, fund some transport related projects, but in the following table the data are integrated within the Rural Transport Partnership and Parish Transport Grant figures. This is due to the way the data is collected by the Countryside Agency.
	
		
			 Scheme Period Number of projects supported Average time for decision Number of projects awaiting release of funds 
		
		
			 Parish Transport Grant 2001–02 41 10 days 0 
			  (9)2002–03 76 10 days 109 
			 Rural Transport Development Fund(8) 2000–01 111 (10)— 0 
			 Rural Transport Partnership 2000–01 69 (10)— 0 
			  2001–02 278 19 days 0 
			  (9)2002–03 221 10 days 581 
		
	
	(8) Rural Transport Development Fund was merged with the Rural Transport Partnership in April 2001.
	(9) Data from 1 April 2002 to 1 November 2002.
	(10) Not available.
	The Countryside Agency send out grant award letters immediately upon approval. All the projects currently being delivered are awaiting release of some funds, as no more than 90 per cent. of project funding can be released until the project is complete.

Slurry Contamination

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  pursuant to her answer of 20 November 2002, Official Report, column 169W, on slurry contamination, how many fines were issued for slurry contamination and what the average fines were, broken down by region, in each of the last 15 years;
	(2)  how many cases of slurry contamination have occurred in each region in each of the last 15 years.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 December 2002
	The table as follows shows the number of water prosecutions involving all types of agricultural pollution (including slurry pollution), by Environment Agency region, for the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. It is to not practicable to assemble enforcement data before 1 April 1999, when the Agency's National enforcement Database went live. In my answer of 20 November I explained that from the beginning of 2003 the Agency's database will be able to provide information on specific pollutants such as slurry, but information is not currently held at this level of detail.
	
		# 
		
			 Region Number of fines Average fine 
		
		
			 Year 1999 
			 Anglian 4 4,875 
			 North-West 3 2,667 
			 Southern 1 1,500 
			 Welsh 1 2,500 
			 Year 2000   
			 Anglian 3 5,333 
			 Midlands 3 15,333 
			 North-West 1 5,000 
			 South-West 4 1,913 
			 Southern 1 2,000 
			 Year 2001   
			 Anglian 5 3,800 
			 Midlands 4 4,275 
			 North-East 1 1,000 
			 North-West 2 3,000 
			 South-West 1 3,000 
			 Southern 4 3,625 
			 Thames 2 5,750 
			 Welsh 1 5,000 
			 Year 2002   
			 Anglian 1 5,000 
			 North-East 1 3,500 
			 Southern 1 3,000

Trawling

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it the policy of the Government to outlaw (a) industrial trawling and (b) pair trawling for pelagic species.

Elliot Morley: Reducing the incidental bycatch of small cetaceans will require action on the part of all member states involved in the fisheries concerned, not just the UK. Defra has already committed some #140,000 for trials into the use of exclusion devices developed by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) to reduce the bycatch of cetaceans in pelagic trawl fisheries. The trial will be resumed as soon as the commercial fishery restarts, in order to refine the system and further assess the grid's effectiveness in protecting dolphins and maintaining fish catch rates. If SMRU's trials are not successful, we will look at other mitigating measures, and I do not rule out any approach at this stage—including arguing for restrictions on fishing, gear or seasonal closures.

Urban Foxes

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the RSPCA and other animal welfare groups on the release of captured urban foxes into the countryside; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Department holds discussions from time to time with the RSPCA and other animal welfare organisations on managing wild mammals, including foxes, where they are perceived to be a problem.
	It is not an offence to capture foxes and release them elsewhere, provided the person concerned does not contravene the legislation that provides general protection for wild mammals against cruelty and ill-treatment. The Department does not recommend the use of re-location as a method of managing foxes. This is well understood by groups like the RSPCA who are opposed to this practice. We are not aware of any other established welfare groups who favour relocation as a method of managing foxes. Because of their territorial nature, foxes moved to another area would be likely to fight with any others already established there. This could lead to injury and death among the foxes. Anyone experiencing problems with urban foxes should contact Defra for advice on 0845 601 4523 (local rate).

Waste Management

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates she has made of the use of (a) waste incineration, (b) landfill dumping and (c) recycling of household waste in (i) Lancashire, (ii) the north-west of England and (iii) the UK.

Michael Meacher: Municipal waste tonnages and percentages for the disposal methods requested are in the table.
	
		Thousand tonnes/percentages 
		
			  Incineration Landfill Recycling/composting 
		
		
			 Lancashire 0.3 685 123 
			  <0.1% 84% 15% 
			 North West Region 47 3,722 386 
			  1% 90% 9% 
			 England 2,499 22,072 3,443 
			  9% 78% 12% 
		
	
	Household waste makes up approximately 90 per cent. of municipal waste in England. Comparable figures for the UK are not available.

Water Abstraction

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to what extent she intends the proposed Water Bill to include a duty on abstractors to use water efficiently, as required by the EC Water Framework Directive.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 3 December 2002
	Article 11(3)(c) of the EC Water Framework requires a programme of measures to promote efficient and sustainable use of water. It does not require a duty on abstractors to use water efficiently. The Water Bill will not place such a duty on abstractors because the Government believe the Environment Agency already has sufficient powers to ensure abstractors use water efficiently.
	However, the Water Bill will place a duty on water companies to conserve water in the carrying out of their functions, as one of the measures to meet the requirements of that Article.

PRIVY COUNCIL

Degrees

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the President of the Council what recent discussions he has had with private institutions and organisations on the award of degrees.

Robin Cook: I have had none. The Privy Council has received applications from some private organisations for the granting of degree-awarding powers and these are currently being considered.

TRANSPORT

Airfield Security

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received concerning security at small airfields in the UK; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what measures the Government are taking to improve security at small airfields in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Although we received few representations regarding the security of smaller aerodromes in the UK in the immediate aftermath of September 2001 attacks, we immediately tightened the security regime for commercial flights by small aircraft. I have received no more recent representations.
	Prior to those attacks, commercial aircraft of less than 15 tonnes (maximum take off weight) were outside the requirements of the National Aviation Security Programme. That exemption has been removed, and aircraft of any weight are now subject to the programme.
	The operators of such aircraft and the managers of the aerodromes from which they operate have been issued with the relevant directions and guidance, and Department for Transport Inspectors monitor compliance and undertake enforcement, prioritising those locations where the risks are judged greatest. As with all aspects of the regime, these measures are kept under review.

Additional Runway (Heathrow)

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold a public exhibition of the proposals for an additional runway at Heathrow in Spelthorne during the extended period of consultations.

David Jamieson: holding answer 3 December 2002
	As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport announced to Parliament on 28 November 2002 Official Report, columns 474–75, the consultation on airports capacity will be kept open until we have consulted on options in relation to Gatwick. We will publish a further consultation document in the new year.
	We will set out our plans for the remaining stage of the consultation process when we publish the further consultation paper in the new year.

Advanced Motorcyclists

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made by his Department of the role, process and standards of advanced level training for motorcyclists; what discussions have taken place; what representations have been received; and what steps have been taken by his Department as a result.

David Jamieson: The Government have commissioned independent research into the current provision of motorcycling training. The study included the identification of training organisations, a postal survey questionnaire of all organisations identified, and follow-up face-to-face and telephone interviews. The findings will be considered by the research sub-group of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling, which includes riding and training interests. A report of the research findings should be published in the New Year.

Advisory Group on Motorcycling

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out the (a) terms of reference and (b) results of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling.

David Jamieson: The information is as follows:
	(a) The terms of reference for the advisory group are:
	(i) the safety record of motorcyclists and to agree on measures to be taken to improve safety, including general road user behaviour and consideration of training and licensing arrangements;
	(ii) the environmental impact of motorcycles and to agree what measures, if any, should be taken in light of the conclusions reached by the group; and
	(iii) the role of powered two wheelers of all sorts in an integrated transport policy including the scope for traffic management measures that are beneficial to motorcyclists and contribute to that policy.
	(b) The work of the advisory group is not yet finished. An XInterim Report of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling" was published in April 2001. Copies were placed in the Libraries of the House. The advisory group has still to complete some key work streams, including safety research, congestion research and environmental assessment. Some of this will only conclude during 2004. It will be at that stage that the Government will be able to reach conclusions on the work of the advisory group.

Air Transport

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which five airports in the United Kingdom had the (a) highest and (b) lowest growth of passenger traffic in the last five years.

David Jamieson: Comparing passenger numbers in 2001 with those in 1996 the information is as follows:
	Airports with highest growth:
	Kent International
	Dundee
	Liverpool
	Scatsta
	Londonderry
	Airports with lowest growth:
	Shoreham
	Lydd
	Carlisle
	Gloucestershire
	Unst

Air Transport Consultation

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many responses to the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK he had received, broken down by region, by 30 November.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wellington (Mr. Brake) on 9 December 2002, Official Report, columns 32–33W.

Air Transport Consultation

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what gas pipelines are routed through the location of the Midlands New Site set out in the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK: Midlands; and what plans there are to move them should this option be selected;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the Midlands New Site Option, contained within the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK: Midlands, with PPG25;
	(3)  what plans the Department has to deal with the risk of bird strike from the major gull roost at Draycote Water in Warwickshire in the event of proceeding with the Midlands New Site Option contained within the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK: Midlands;
	(4)  what investigation his Department had made of the potential flooding in the Avon Valley caused by the Midlands New Site Option contained within the National Consultation on the Future of Air Transport in the UK: Midlands; and what further investigations his Department will carry out before this option would be proposed.

David Jamieson: In light of the current consultation on air transport, we will set out in the White Paper our policies on how much airport development is necessary, where this should be located and on what main terms and conditions such development could be taken forward No decisions have been taken.
	We will be looking carefully at all the issues raised by consultees in response to the options set out in the Midlands consultation document. Many important issues of detail will need to be addressed by a developer should there be any development and will be for later determination during subsequent statutory planning procedures.

Air Transport Consultation

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the air transport consultation process, if he will place in the Library the extrapolated passenger figures for Birmingham Airport for the period 2031 to 2060 referred to in the document Regional Air Services 3: Midlands Part B Appraisal Final Report section Core Economic Appraisal 2.9.4.

David Jamieson: The passenger throughputs which could be accommodated at Birmingham International Airport, under the options presented in the consultation document, were appraised under two scenarios, the RASCO Reference Case and SERAS, the South East Constrained Case. The figures for Birmingham Airport are as follows.
	
		
			  2031 2041 
		
		
			 SERAS   
			 Max use 21,307,335 22,000,000 
			 Close 33,973,889 34,000,000 
			 Wide 45,000,000 45,000,000 
			 RASCO   
			 Max use 20,711,392 22,000,000 
			 Close 31,359,223 34,000,000 
			 Wide 36,726,164 45,000,000 
		
	
	Once capacity has been reached, by 2041, the figures remain at these levels up to 2060.

Airports (Homeowner Compensation)

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to compensate homeowners for the loss in value of their homes, should new airports be built.

David Jamieson: The principal Acts covering compulsory purchase and compensation are the Land Compensation Acts of 1961 and 1973, the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981.
	For people whose property is required to allow for a proposed development, compansation is payable on the basis that they should be no worse off in financial terms after the acquisition that they were before. This means that they receive compensation for the value of their property based on its open market value if there had been no proposal to acquire their property compulsorily plus the reimbursement of any actual costs and losses incurred as a result of having to move.
	In addition, both owner-occupiers and tenants who are displaced from their home as a result of a compulsory purchase, and have occupied the property as their main residence for a year or more, will be entitled to a home-loss payment. In the case of tenants this is currently #1,500 while owner-occupiers receive 10 per cent. of the value of their property subject to minimum and maximum thresholds which are currently set at #1,500 and #15,000. However, both the flat rate payable to tenants and the thresholds for owner-occupiers are currently being reviewed, including proposals for increasing the payments above the present #15,000 ceiling. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a consultation document about this on 27 September, inviting comments by 6 January 2003.
	People whose property does not need to be demolished may be entitled to compensation to cover depreciation in the value of their land due to physical factors caused by the use of a development, such as noise, smell, smoke and fumes. In this case, compensation for the loss in value would be based upon prices current on the first claim day, which is 12 months after the first use of the public works.
	In addition to these rules, the consultation on The Future Development of Air Transport in the South East is seeking views on additional mitigation and compensation measures for people who might suffer noise impacts as a result of an airport development option. These measures are outlined in paragraphs 16.49—16.58 of the main consultation document.

Airports Consultation

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he will take to ensure that the eventual recommendations for aviation based on Birmingham Airport will be consistent with the Government's policies for protection of the environment (a) locally, (b) nationally and (c) internationally.

David Jamieson: The challenge for next year's White Paper is to ensure that airport development is sustainable, that is to say that it achieves a proper balance between economic, social and environmental considerations. Delivering any additional airport capacity will be within the framework of local, national and international policies to protect the environment.

Airports Consultation

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates his Department has made of the number of residents that would be subjected to levels of pollutants above EU limits, were three additional runways to be built at Stansted.

David Jamieson: As reported in XThe Future of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East" (page 70), it is estimated for three new runways at Stansted that no one would be exposed to an exceedence of the limit for PM10 ; and that just over 300 people could be exposed to an exceedence of the limit for NO2 by 2030. It is likely that this impact could in practice be prevented.

Airports Consultation

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessments his Department has made of the viability of an offshore airport.

David Jamieson: The SERAS Stage 0 (site search) involved identifying potential new sites to serve the South East and East of England. Over 400 new and existing airport sites, including potential offshore sites, were considered. The most promising options were taken forward into the main SERAS study.

Airports Consultation

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the consultancy firms and consultants he is using to collate the responses to the future of air transport consultation; and what steps he took to ensure there were no conflicts of interests on the part of employees of those consultancy firms.

David Jamieson: The analysis of the consultation responses will be carried out by a team comprising civil servants and retained consultants, including Arups, Avia Solutions, Halcrow and the Route Development Company. This will enable us to draw on a wide range of expertise covering aviation, surface access, safety and environmental issues. We have asked the consultants to identify any areas of work for other clients which relate to the air transport consultation and therefore might be considered a conflict of interest so that we can ensure they are not involved in appraising these responses. They have also been asked to consult us on any future requests to undertake work which might result in a possible conflict.

Aviation Standards

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes there have been to the standards for (a) noise limits, (b) minimum flying heights and (c) monitoring of noise levels for aircraft departing (i) Heathrow, (ii) Gatwick and (iii) Stansted airports since December 2000; and what assessment has been made of the effect of the changes.

David Jamieson: On 18 December 2000 my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) announced new departure noise limits for aircraft departing from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and improved noise monitoring arrangements Official Report columns 11–12W). In accordance with that decision, the new night-time noise limit of 87 dB A came into effect during the night quota period (2330–0600 hours) from 25 March 2ooi; all other aspects of the decision, including the new daytime (0700–2300 hours) noise limit of 94dBA and the requirement for aircraft to be at a height of 1000 feet aal (above airport level) at 6.5 km from start of roll, came into effect from 25 February 2001.
	The noise limits (including the old night-time noise limit of 89 dBA which continues to apply 2300–2330 and 0600–0700 hours) apply at the fixed noise monitor positions as determined by my hon. friend.
	Included in the announcement of 18 December 2000 was the decision to commence a further review of the departure noise limits and associated noise monitors. The technical work is being carried out by the Environmental Research and Consultancy Department (ERCD) of the Civil Aviation Authority. It is examining a method for assessing the effectiveness of the current monitoring arrangements and any possible improvements, as well as the scope for any further reductions in the departure noise limits. Our conclusions on the way forward in the light of that study will be announced in due course.

Central Railways

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce a decision about the report by the Strategic Rail Authority on Central Railways' freight proposal; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr Hoyle) on 28 November 2002, Official Report, column 455W.

Channel Tunnel Link

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the High Speed Channel Tunnel Link between the tunnel entrance and Fawkham Junction; what the expected date is of completion of this section; and when services will begin operating.

David Jamieson: Section 1 of the CTRL (Channel Tunnel to Fawkham Junction, North Kent) is now over 92 per cent. complete and on target for completion and the start of services by the end of 2003.

Cliffe Airport

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold a Cliffe Airport proposal exhibition in Thurrock.

David Jamieson: holding answer 5 December 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) today (85225).

Crossrail

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the impact of cost inflation within the rail industry on Crossrail; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Cross London Rail Links Ltd. (CLRL) has been established jointly by the Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London to develop proposals for Crossrail. CLRL are currently examining a number of potential routes as well as developing the business case for the project and appraising the economic and other impacts of the options. Cost analysis will form part of this work.

Disabled Access

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many recent representations he has received from (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public regarding disabled persons' difficulties in accessing (i) train station platforms and (ii) London Underground platforms.

David Jamieson: holding answer 9 December 2002
	Since April this year the representations I have received about the difficulties experienced by disabled people accessing station platforms are as follows:
	
		
			  From MPs From the public 
		
		
			 Train station platforms 5 4 
			 London Underground 0 2 
		
	
	The Strategic Rail Authority's new code of practice is expected to deliver improvements in the design of new stations and refurbishment of existing infrastructure.
	Also, railway stations—and other transport infrastructure—are covered by the part III provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act. From 1 October 2004 station operators will have to take reasonable steps to remove, alter or find reasonable ways of avoiding physical features which make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to access the service.

EQUASIS Database

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the role and success of the EQUASIS database in reducing the number of sub-standard ships registered by flag states; and what further action is planned.

David Jamieson: The EQUASIS database provides the industry with freely accessible safety-related information on the quality of the world's merchant fleet, so answering calls for greater transparency. The database receives approximately 100,000 hits per month.
	HQUASIS provides charterers of ships and others in the maritime industry with information on ship quality, so that substandard ships might be avoided. Increased usaec of the information on EQUASIS by the industry should leave operators of substandard ships increasingly marginalised.

Integration of Transport

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial support has been provided by (a) his Department and (b) Transport Direct for schemes relating to the integration of transport for (i) ticketing, (ii) timetabling and (iii) marketing (A) in total and (B) for each scheme supported, for each year since 1997; what the projected support is under the 10-year-plan; and what assessment has been made of the role and success of the schemes.

David Jamieson: No specific financial support has been provided.

Integration of Transport

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the (a) number of, (b) location of and (c) number of passengers using each scheme relating to the integration of transport for (i) ticketing, (ii) timetabling and (iii) marketing between modes in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: The Department does not keep a record of individual integration schemes. These are generally the responsibility of transport operators working in co-operation with each other, the SRA and/or local authorities or PTEs.
	The Department has encouraged the work of the Journey Solutions organisation to deliver a national integrated rail/bus ticket. The scheme, PlusBus, provides a simple add-on bus option to rail rickets at one or both ends of a train journey. It is currently available at 35 stations across the National Rail network, and will be available at a further 120 stations by May 2003.

Local Authority Ports

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made by his Department since 19 January 2001 of the (a) safety and maintenance standards and (b) works of the local authority ports at (i) Whitby, (ii) Gillingham, (iii) Torquay, (iv) Ramsgate New Port, (v) Sunderland, (vi) Scarborough, (vii) Bristol Royal Docks, (viii) Bridport, (ix) Portsmouth Commercial Port and (x) Weymouth Harbour; what financial support has been provided by the Department in each case; and what improvements have been achieved.

David Jamieson: Supplementary Credit Approvals (SCA) are available for local authority run ports to help to fund essential safety and maintenance work. The following SCA allocations been made to those listed in the question:
	
		SCA allocations for 2000–01 issued 28 September 2001 -- #
		
			 Port SCA 
		
		
			 Whitby 335,000 
			 Gillingham 452,750 
			 Ramsgate New Port 206,250 
			 Sunderland 58,125 
			 Scarborough 129,000 
			 Bristol 166,500 
			 Bridport 112,500 
			 Portsmouth Commercial Port 244,625 
			 Weymouth 182,160 
		
	
	Torquay surrendered a #200,000 allocation in 2000–01 as the work planned could not be carried out due to two World War Two embarkation ramps being declared buildings of historic interest (Grade II).
	The final total allocation for 2000–01 was approximately #1.88 million.
	
		SCA allocation for 2001–02 issued 30 September 2002 -- #
		
			 Port SCA 
		
		
			 Ramsgate New Port 75,000 
			 Sunderland 7,500 
			 Portsmouth Commercial Port 30,000 
		
	
	
		SCA Letters of intent for allocation for 2002–03 issued 2 April 2002 (formal allocation to be issued by 30 September 2003) -- #
		
			 Port SCA 
		
		
			 Ramsgate New Port 262,500 
			 Portsmouth Commercial Port 34,250 
			 Weymouth 8,275 
		
	
	The Department confirms with the ports that the relevant work has been carried out.
	Since January 2001 Health and Safety Executive inspectors have visited the ports at Portsmouth, Scarborough, Sunderland, Ramsgate New Port, Torquay, Weymouth and Bristol. These visits were conducted as part of HSE's planned inspection programme, or to investigate accidents or complaints, and not directly related to the SCA funding.

Offshore Oil Industry (Secretary of State's Representative)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 3 December 2002, Official Report, column 673W, whom he has appointed; what facilities he has at his disposal; and what budget he has.

David Jamieson: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Secretary of State appointed Robin Middleton as Secretary of State's Representative (SOSREP) for salvage and intervention on 4 October 1999.
	(b) The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) provide him with an office and administrative support for day to day running. During incidents, specialised offshore counter pollution and salvage equipment is available at the MCA's depots at Milford Haven and Burnt Island.
	There are now also four Emergency Towing Vessels stationed all year in strategic locations around the United Kingdom. These are available to be directed by SOSREP. Aerial surveillance can also be provided by the MCA.
	(c) SOSREP does not have an individual budget. Funding is provided by the Directorate of Operations at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Southampton as necessary.
	To date Robin Middleton has been involved in over 261 incidents issuing 29 directions, setting up 17 salvage control units and attending seven national exercises.

PlusBus Scheme

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received on the PlusBus scheme; what support his Department and Transport Direct have provided; what assessment (a) has been made and (b) is planned of the scheme, and what the expected outcome is.

David Jamieson: My Department works closely with Journey Solutions (the organisation responsible for the PlusBus scheme). The Department is represented, through the Transport Direct team, on both the Journey Solutions Board and Advisory Panel. Both of these groups have taken a close interest in the PlusBus scheme, offering support where appropriate, and will continue to do so. To date no representations from other organisations or members of the public have been received on the scheme as it was only launched publicly last month.
	My Department is currently undertaking research on behalf of Journey Solutions to assess the PlusBus scheme. The research will measure awareness of PlusBus; examine customer satisfaction with the product; critically review each step of the PlusBus journey; test effectiveness of promotional components; confirm target market; and measure impact on travel patterns. The results of this research should be available by mid 2003. The research will contribute to the Department for Transport understanding about multi-modal ticketing—one of the Transport Direct strategic objectives.

PPP

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Answer of 2nd December, Official Report, column 498W, if he will place in the Library the calculations upon which his long-term grant offer is made.

David Jamieson: The calculations made as part of our assessment of the amount of freight facilities grant which may be offered in a given case are set out in Annexes A and B to the document XWater Freight Facilities Grant". Copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Primary Rail Routes

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent calculations he has made of the average cost to the passenger per mile of travel on each of the primary rail routes.

David Jamieson: The most recent research into the average price of fares was carried out for the Strategic Rail Authority by AEA Technology in 2001. It did not include route-specific information. The standard class average fare paid was 13.7 pence per mile.

Railway Rolling Stock

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates his Department has made of the feasibility of using type 365 rolling stock on railway lines between London, Bishop's Stortford and Cambridge.

David Jamieson: Services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge via Bishop's Stortford are currently provided by Class 317 units. The Department is not aware of any plans to use Class 365 units on these services.

Railway Stations

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are for increasing capacity at (a) Clitheroe and (b) Preston railway stations.

David Jamieson: There are no current plans. However, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is currently developing a Capacity Utilisation Policy to improve capacity planning and provision across the whole of the rail network.

Road Building Schemes

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the value for money to (a) his Department and (b) the other public funds of road building schemes, including those relating to road improvements and operations, using the design, build, finance and operate contracting method.

David Jamieson: A value for money assessment is carried out on all Design Build Finance and Operate proposals, whether they are promoted by my Department or by a Local Authority seeking Government assistance for their scheme. This consists of the preparation of a public sector comparator, which broadly involves an estimate of the costs of constructing and maintaining the scheme within the public sector over the same length of a Design Build Finance and Operate contract and comparing this with an estimate of letting a Design Build Finance and Operate contract. The costs of both options are then discounted back to today's prices to ensure that the comparison is on the samebasis.
	The following Design Build Finance and Operate schemes were judged to be value for money at contract award.
	Schemes promoted by the Highways Agency
	M1-A1
	A1(M)
	A417 A419
	M40
	A19
	A50
	A30/A35
	Local Authority schemes supported by my Department
	A130

Road Building Schemes

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road building schemes using the design, build, finance and operate contracting method are (a) completed and (b) under construction; what the estimated cost to public funds is for each project over the lifetime of the DBFO contract; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: There are nine design build finance and operate schemes of which one is under construction (Al30) and eight have been completed. The cost to the public funds over the life (30 years) of the eight completed projects are:
	
		# million 
		
			 Project Estimated cost 
		
		
			 M1-A1 232 
			 A1(M) 154 
			 A417 A419 112 
			 A69 62 
			 M40 182 
			 A19 136 
			 A50 67 
			 A30/A35 148 
		
	
	The above figures are net present values calculated at an 8 per cent. real discount rate.
	The Government are also prepared to consider providing assistance to local authorities to provide roads through a design build finance and operate contract. To date only the A130 road has been procured in this way. That road was constructed in two stages. The first stage has been completed and the second stage is expected to open shortly. The estimated cost to public funds over the life of the project is #105
	million at 1997 prices.

School Transport

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations governing the safe transportation of children to and from school on public transport; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I would like first of all to express my deepest sympathy to all those bereaved and injured by the tragic accident involving children travelling on a bus in my hon. Friends constituency on 3 December.
	There are a number of different regulations governing the standards for buses and coaches which will effect those used for school transport.
	(1) The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended. This sets out the legal technical parameters for masses, dimensions, suspension, steering, turning circle requirements and seat belt requirements for the vehicles.
	(2) The Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981, as amended. These set out the standards for the likes of seat sizes, gangway sizes, handholds, exits, luggage spaces, step heights etc.
	(3) The Public Service Vehicles (Carrying Capacity) Regulations 1984, as amended. These set the standards for the numbers of passengers that can be carried on bus, the way they are to be marked to show this and where passengers can and cannot stand.
	(4) The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, as amended. Which as well as setting out the requirements for the vehicles external lighting also requires markings to be displayed on the vehicles that are used for carrying children.
	(5) The Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990, as amended. This sets out the requirements for the
	behaviour of Staff and passengers using buses and coaches.
	My Department keeps the regulations referred to above under constant review.

Shipping Criteria

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the level of (a) submission and (b) publication of self-assessment forms from flag states on shipping criteria and performance indicators; and what action is planned in this area.

David Jamieson: Forty-nine Member States (including the UK) have so far submitted their completed Self-Assessment Forms to IMO. That is a disappointing rate of return. The UK encourages those Member States that have not yet completed and published their Self-Assessment Forms to do so.
	The UK and other Member States have brought to IMO a proposal for the introduction of a voluntary Model Audit Scheme, to assess the effectiveness of Member States' implementation and enforcement of relevant IMO safety and pollution prevention Convention standards.
	The UK and other Member States have brought to IMO a proposal for the introduction of a voluntary Model Audit Scheme, to assess the effectiveness of Member States' implementation and enforcement of relevant IMO safety and pollution prevention Convention standards.

Single Hull Tankers

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many single hull oil tankers were registered in each flag state in each year since 1990.

David Jamieson: This information is not held by my Department.

Stingray Mobile Camera System

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cases of vehicle excise duty evasion have been recorded by the Stingray mobile camera system, broken down by region, since its introduction.

David Jamieson: Between 11 October 2001 (the national launch of the Stingray automatic number plate reader mobile camera system) and 31 October 2002, 17,756 confirmed cases of vehicle excise duty evasion have been recorded by the Stingray systems. It is not possible to give details by region.

Stingray Mobile Camera System

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what revenue has been generated from enforcement action against vehicle excise duty evasion through detection by the Stingray mobile camera system since October 2001.

David Jamieson: Between 11 October 2001 (the national launch of the Stingray automatic number plate reader mobile camera system) and 31 October 2002, #2.08 million has been generated from enforcement action against VED evaders caught by the Stingray systems. This includes penalties, fines, court costs and relicensing revenue.

Stingray Mobile Camera System

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total running cost for the 11 units of the Stingray mobile camera system since October 2001.

David Jamieson: Between 11 October 2001 (the national launch of the Stingray ANPR system) and 31 October 2002, the total cost of operating the units was some #1.43 million including publicity.

Supplementary Credit Approvals

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which local authorities received supplementary credit approvals related to roads maintenance and repair in each financial year since 2000–01; and what the total amount received was in each case for (a) flood damage and (b) other causes.

David Jamieson: All local authorities in England (outside London) received capital support in the form of supplementary credit approvals for road maintenance in 2000–01 and 2001–02. Capital support to authorities for road maintenance in 2002–03 is in the form of basic credit approvals except for major maintenance schemes with a gross cost exceeding #5 million. The following four authorities have received supplementary credit approvals in 2002–03 for major maintenance schemes:
	Bedfordshire
	Halton
	Newcastle Upon Tyne
	Oldham
	The support made available to authorities each year does not separately identify the provision for road maintenance and repair relating to flood damage and to other causes. We separately provided #23 million in 2001–02 in support to the following 22 authorities in England for the repair of roads worst affected by flooding in the previous winter and spring:
	
		Amount in thousands (#000) 
		
			 Local authority names Flood damage 2001–02 
		
		
			 Brighton and Hove 341 
			 Derby 106 
			 Hartlepool 66 
			 Herefordshire 988 
			 Medway 162 
			 Portsmouth 180 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 195 
			 Telford and The Wrekin 401 
			 West Berkshire 364 
			 Devon 879 
			 East Sussex 1,656 
			 Gloucestershire 894 
			 Hampshire 5,051 
			 Kent 5,333 
			 North Yorkshire 1,258 
			 Northumberland 100 
			 Shropshire 256 
			 Surrey 1,440 
			 West Sussex 1,684 
			 Wiltshire 930 
			 Oldham 931 
			 LB Richmond 50 
			 Total 23,265

Traveline Website

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the contract to run the traveline website was awarded; to whom it was originally awarded; who holds this contract; what the length and cost of the contracts (a) were at the time of award and (b) are now; what the terms of reference and expected outputs of the contract were; what assessment has been made of the delivery of the contract; what changes have been made to the original contract; and what further changes are planned.

David Jamieson: The traveline website is owned by the traveline partners not by the Department for Transport. We are not therefore in a position to comment on the contracts entered into by those bodies.
	In 2001 the traveline parties, under the leadership of Buckinghamshire County Council submitted a bid to the then Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for 58K Supplementary Credit Approval (SCA) to develop the original
	traveline portal site.
	This was supplemented by a grant of 25K during 2002 to extend the traveline portal functionality. This work will be completed in the first quarter of 2003.
	The traveline parties have agreed with the owners of a site offering a comprehensive index of public transport information (pti.org.uk) to merge websites and functionality, given the complementary nature of these sites. As part of the merger, the controlling company, pt/ Website Ltd., will include representatives from transport operators and local authorities.
	It will be a matter for pt/ Website Ltd. and the various traveline partners nationally to consider how and when to assess the effectiveness of their web services.

Trunk Roads

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trunk road excavations there have been in each Shropshire constituency in each year since 1997, and what the cost was in each case.

David Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Paul Marsden, dated 12 December 2002
	I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number and cost of trunk road excavations in each Shropshire constituency since 1997.
	From your question, we assume that you are seeking information on utility companies' works (water, gas, electricity, telecommunications, etc.) which involve trunk road excavations. I am afraid historical information of this type is not held centrally in a form that would be readily available.. It would be time consuming and expensive to collect, involving detailed searching through manual records from a number of different sources. That said, since September we have had a new streetworks system in place that will allow us to collect the number of streetworks excavations per utility within a specific area.
	I am sorry that I cannot send a more helpful reply. If you consider that the information that we have for the last two months for the trunk roads in Shropshire would be useful, it can be provided. The contact within the Agency is Andrew Slater, he can be contacted at our offices at Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham B15 1BL, or by telephone on 0121 678 8504.

Waterloo-Exeter Railway Line

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the decision to award a franchise to South West Trains on the Waterloo to Exeter line on (a) track doubling west of Salisbury, (b) car parking at Salisbury station and (c) the re-opening of Wilton station.

David Jamieson: Stagecoach's initial proposals for a 20-year franchise—submitted in July 2000—included double tracking of the line and car park expansion at Salisbury, but not the re-opening of Wilton station. The Strategic Rail Authority subsequently proposed to place the Exeter line in the Wessex franchise. Consequently, double tracking of the line and the expansion of car parks were excluded from Stagecoach's Best and Final Offer when submitted to the SRA in November 2000. The new approach to the South West Trains franchise, announced on 6 November 2002, includes the route but excludes infrastructure enhancements. Alternative means of pursuing infrastructure projects are being considered by the Strategic Rail Authority.

West Coast Main Line

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the operation of the franchise for the west coast main line.

David Jamieson: The main operator of long distance rail services on the west coast main line is Virgin trains. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) manages this rail franchise, and all of the other rail franchises. The SRA is working with Virgin trains to ensure that an appropriate level of service is provided while the major up-grade of the west coast main line is in progress.

DEFENCE

Airbus 400

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by how much, and by what percentage, the unit costs of each Airbus 400 ordered for the RAF will change as a result of Germany's decision to reduce its Airbus 400 order.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 9 December 2002
	We welcome the official announcement from the German Government concerning its participation in the A400M programme with an off take of 60 aircraft.
	The cost impact, if any, of the reduction in German off take will be determined through negotiation with the prime contractor, Airbus Military. We will clearly hope to minimise any price increase to the United Kingdom.

Aircrew

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many aircrew in the United Kingdom forces were born in Scotland; how many are pilots of (a) combat aircraft, (b) transport aircraft and (c) helicopters, in each arm of the service; and how many are other aircrew by (i) arm of service and (ii) function.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Apache

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 171W, on the Apache, what assessment he has made of the cost of upgrading the Apache's night vision system.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The cost of a possible enhanced night vision system for Apache has yet to be fully established.

Atomic Weapons Establishments

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed by the Atomic Weapons Establishments at (a) Aldermaston, (b) Burghfield and (c) Blacknest.

Lewis Moonie: As at 29 November 2002, the number of people employed at each of the Atomic Weapons Establishments (AWE) in the United Kingdom was as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 AWE Aldermaston 3,190 
			 AWE Burghfield 317 
			 AWE Blacknest 8 
			 Total 3,515 
		
	
	The figures quoted are staff, both full and part-time, employed by AWE plc.

Barracks (Infantry)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans exist to increase barrack accommodation in Scotland for infantry units; and at what locations.

Lewis Moonie: Major Army Infantry units are currently based at three locations in Scotland, detailed in the following table. We have no plans to increase accommodation for infantry units in those locations. The former Army Training and Recruitment site at Glencorse, near Penicuik, will, however, be occupied by an infantry battalion in the future.
	
		
			 Unit Location 
		
		
			 1st Battalion The Royal Highland Fusiliers Fort George, Inverness  
			 1st Battalion The Royal Scots Dreghorn Barracks, Edinburgh  
			 1st Battalion The Highlanders Redford Infantry Barracks, Edinburgh

Challenger 2 Tanks

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank; and when desert modifications will be complete.

Geoff Hoon: Challenger 2 is a world class tank. In 1999 it exceeded very demanding reliability targets during a series of rigorous trials which tested the performance of the tank under simulated battlefield conditions. It has also given excellent service in Kosovo and Bosnia.
	The Ministry of Defence expects that a range of measures identified to improve Challenger 2 performance in desert conditions will be completed in good time for any possible future operations.

Combat Assault Boot

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 2 December, Official Report, column 473W, what steps he has taken to discover whether individual soldiers have failed to be issued with the combat assault boot because of recent production difficulties.

Lewis Moonie: There have been no reports of soldiers being without a pair of serviceable combat assault boots. If there were a shortage, units would report the problem and action would then be taken to resolve the issue. Moreover we have made positive checks with the chain of command who have found no evidence of soldiers being without boots. We have a system whereby orders are prioritised to ensure that all urgent demands are met. All such demands for combat assault boots are being met.

Combat Assault Boot

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  pursuant to his answer of 27 November 2002, Official Report, column 473W on the combat assault boot which company manufactures the combat assault boot and where they are based; how many soldiers are issued with the combat assault boot; how many pairs are issued each year to each soldier; what representations he has received from individual units about the shortage of combat assault boots; and whether combat assault boots are issued to Royal Navy and RAF personnel;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the (a) production and (b) availability of the combat assault boot.

Lewis Moonie: UK Safety, based in the United Kingdom, are the main manufacturer of the Combat Assault Boot (CAB). Iturri, based in Spain, also supply a relatively small number of boots. UK Safety relocated within the UK earlier this year and experienced some initial difficulties with production.
	Every soldier is issued with two pairs of CAB during basic training and these are replaced as and when necessary through Unit Quartermasters. As explained in my answer of 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 473W 79,000 pairs of CAB were issued to Army Units for the year 1 November 2001 to 31 October 2002. We have not received any representations from units about shortages of CAB. No serviceman should be without at least one pair of serviceable CAB.
	All Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel are issued with one pair of CAB, the exception being RAF Regiment and Royal Marines personnel who are issued with two pairs on the same basis as soldiers.

Contracts (Foreign Companies)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of work he requires to be carried out in the UK on contracts awarded to foreign companies.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 5 December 2002
	It is the Government's policy to provide the armed forces with the equipment which they require at the best value for money for the taxpayer. Contracts are negotiated on an individual basis and there is no policy requirement for a particular percentage of work to be undertaken in the United Kingdom. However, as stated in our new defence industrial policy published on 14 October, the benefit to the UK economy from Ministry of Defence contracts is taken into account when selecting contractors. A copy of the Government's defence industrial policy is in the Library of the House.

Defence Staff

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people work for the (a) British Forces Post Office, (b) Central Data Management Agency, (c) Defence Analytical Services Agency, (d) Defence Aviation Repair Agency, (e) Defence Bills Agency, (f) Defence Estates, (g) Defence Export Services Organisation, (h) Defence Procurement Agency, (i) Defence Scientific and Technical Laboratory, (j) International Visits Control Office, (k) Meteorological Offices, (l) Ministry of Defence Police, (m) Defence Scientific Advisory Council (n) Disposal Service Agency, and (o) Hydrographic Office; how many are employed in Scotland in each case; and what the personnel costs of each agency are.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Defence Staff

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) civil and (b) military personnel are employed at (i) the Clyde Submarine Base, Faslane and (ii) the Royal Naval Armaments Deport, Coulport.

Lewis Moonie: The number of civilian and military personnel employed at HMNB Clyde and RNAD Coulport, including Ministry of Defence civilian and military personnel and employees of Babcock Naval Services, the industrial partner, but excluding crews on ships and submarines visiting or undergoing maintenance at these bases is:
	
		
			  Civilian Military 
		
		
			 HMNB Clyde 3,042 1,677 
			 RNAD Coulport 655 55

DERA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) total staff budget for DERA and (b) the staff budget for DERA in Scotland was in the last year for which figures are available.

Lewis Moonie: DERA was disestablished on 1 July 2001, when two new organisations, QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), were created. QinetiQ is a plc, and all operational inquiries should be addressed to the Chief Executive. Dstl remains a part of the Ministry of Defence. For the financial year 2001–02, Dstl's total staff budget was #118.3 million. It is not possible to separate out the costs for the 52 employees based in Scotland as these individuals belong to a number of larger cost centre groups.

Dockyard Personnel

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) civilian and (b) military personnel are employed at (i) the Dockyard, Rosyth and (ii) the Royal Dockyard, Devonport.

Lewis Moonie: The number of civilian and military personnel employed at the Royal Dockyards in Rosyth and Devonport is:
	
		
			  Civilian Military 
		
		
			 Rosyth 2,205 10 
			 Devonport 5,954 1,048 
		
	
	The totals include employees of the privately owned Rosyth and Devonport Dockyards and also Ministry of Defence civilian employees and military staff at both Rosyth and the Devonport Naval Base, which is adjacent to Devonport Dockyard. These figures exclude crews on ships and submarines visiting or undergoing maintenance work at the bases.

Foxhunting

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the terms of the licence under which fox hunting occurs on his Department's land.

Lewis Moonie: A copy of the current licence will be placed in the Library of the House.

Future Carriers

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of steel required for the future carriers will be produced in the UK.

Lewis Moonie: This will be a matter for the Prime Contractor when selected.

Guards Battalions

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many trained officers and soldiers serve in the Guards battalions, broken down by nationality;
	(2)  what the (a) establishment and (b) current strength is of each of the regular Scottish infantry battalions; and if he will list each element of company strength serving in them;
	(3)  what the (a) establishment and (b) the current strengths is of each of the regiments in the Foot Guards; and if he will list each element of company strength serving with them, indicating where each battalion has soldiers attached to it from another battalion, which battalion they are from and in what numbers.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

International Defence Projects

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list aborted international defence projects to which the United Kingdom has subscribed development costs since 1997; what the cost was to the United Kingdom of each; and who the partner nations were.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 9 December 2002
	I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

MOD Staff (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the Department's civilian jobs are in Scotland, broken down by location.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is set out in the following table showing the position as at 1 October 2002.
	
		MOD civilian strengths for staff serving in Scotland by county as at 1 October2002
		
			 Scottish county FTE strength 
		
		
			 Borders 2 
			 Central 321 
			 Dumfries 32 
			 Fife 964 
			 Grampian 871 
			 Highland 75 
			 Lothian 581 
			 Shetland IS. 31 
			 Strathclyde 5,059 
			 Tayside 504 
			 Western IS. 4 
			 Total 8,444 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures include full time equivalent values for part timers.
	2. Figures are individually rounded and may not sum precisely to the totals shown.

MOD Staff (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed in Scotland by (a) his Department and (b) executive agencies responsible to his Department; where these staff are located; and how many staff are employed in (i) England, (ii) London and the South East, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the United Kingdom.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is set out in the following tables showing the position as at 1 October 2002.
	
		MOD civilian strengths by requested Government Office Region as at 1 October 2002 -- (FTE)
		
			  MOD (excluding agencies) Executive agencies Total 
		
		
			 Borders 1 1 2 
			 Central 132 189 321 
			 Dumfries 25 7 32 
			 Fife 526 439 964 
			 Grampian 728 144 871 
			 Highland 41 34 75 
			 Lothian 448 133 581 
			 Shetland IS. 20 11 31 
			 Strathclyde 1,054 4,005 5,059 
			 Tayside 174 330 504 
			 Western IS. — 4 4 
			 Total 3,148 5,296 8,444 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures include full time equivalent values for part timers.
	2. Figures are individually rounded and may not sum precisely to the totals shown.
	
		MOD civilian strengths by requested Government Office Region as at 1 October 2002 -- (FTE)
		
			 Specified locations Strengths 
		
		
			 London and the South East 25,008 
			 England 66,665 
			 Wales 4,224 
			 Northern Ireland 3,221 
			 United Kingdom 82,554 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures include full time equivalent values for part timers.
	2. Figures are individually rounded and may not sum precisely to the totals shown.
	3. Figures in the breakdown exclude 2,348 MOD civilian staff for whom allocation to a specific region is not possible.

Nimrod MRA4

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Nimrod MRA4 to enter service; and what delays have been encountered with this project.

Lewis Moonie: The current contract requirement for the first aircraft to be delivered into service is August 2004 and the In-Service Date requirement of seven aircraft is March 2005. The current contract dates result from the contract re-negotiation that took place in 1999, following technical and programme difficulties encountered by BAE Systems in meeting the original contract placed in 1996.
	More recently, BAE Systems have acknowledged a delay in the programme for the first flight of Nimrod MRA4. This delay has been caused by a combination of factors arising from the challenging concurrent engineering and parallel working on this highly complex aircraft. The consequences of first flight slippage are being urgently examined, jointly, by the Company and the Department. The results of this work so far indicate that first flight is unlikely before the second half of 2003 and we continue to examine the consequences this may have on ISD. Until this work is completed, it would be premature to speculate on the impact of this slippage on the timescale for the entry into service of Nimrod MRA4.

RAF Lynham

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the recent possession valuation of the RAF Lyneham site after contamination re-evaluation.

Lewis Moonie: No decision has yet been taken on the future role of RAF Lyneham. Were the site to be surplus to Ministry of Defence requirements, and to be sold for agricultural use, the estate has been estimated to be worth #11.25 million. This includes an estimation of remediation cost of #0.75 million.

Smallpox

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training and exercises have been carried out to prepare for the deployment of the armed forces in the event of an outbreak of smallpox; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The armed forces are not responsible for dealing with an outbreak of smallpox. The Department of Health would take the lead and could, if appropriate, call upon the limited skills of the armed forces. These skills are subject to constant refinement through training and exercises.
	Details of the response to a smallpox outbreak are available on the DoH website at www. doh. gov.uk/epcu/cbr/biol/smallpoxplan.htm.

Weapons Training

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military (a) units and (b) personnel are trained to deal with nuclear, chemical or biological incidents within the UK.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 2 December 2002
	The United Kingdom has a capability, involving the emergency services and a number of Government Departments and agencies, to make safe terrorist chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) devices. The Ministry of Defence and the armed forces would contribute to the response with personnel and equipment from a number of units based in the UK and available to respond at very short notice. I am withholding precise details of the number of units and personnel in accordance with Exemption la of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
	Beyond this, all armed forces personnel are given basic training to protect themselves in a nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) environment. The Joint NBC Regiment receives specialist training. It is configured for military operations (primarily overseas) but could provide assistance to the civil power in the UK if appropriate and if not already deployed.
	The Civil Contingencies Reaction Forces announced earlier this year will also be equipped and trained to protect themselves in a CBRN environment if called upon to assist the civil power during an incident in the UK.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Clean Water

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the assistance given by her Department to increase the provision of clean water to (a) Zambia, (b) Lesotho, (c) Mozambique, (d) Zimbabwe, (e) Swaziland and (d) Botswana.

Clare Short: In Zambia, DFID is providing basic infrastructure and other services, including water supply systems and sanitation improvements, in urban areas of Lusaka and Livingstone. So far, 420,000 urban and peri-urban poor have improved their livelihoods as a result of the project.
	In Lesotho, our current support is focused on their Poverty Reduction Strategy, which includes the water sector within a comprehensive approach to planning government and donor spending.
	In Mozambique, DFID is providing #3.8 million through UNICEF to a Rural Water Supply and Sanitation project in Zambezia Province in Northern Mozambique. The expected outcome is to develop and implement a Provincial Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan. This will include affordable water and sanitation options for poor communities. It will prioritise under-served geographical areas and will operate in partnership with the Provincial Government.
	In Zimbabwe, DFID's programme is focused on the humanitarian crisis but we spent #8 million in the late 1990s on helping to develop national water policy, and assisting the implementation of the Integrated Rural Water and Sanitation Programme in Bikita and Lupane Districts.
	In Swaziland, DFID has provided #1.98 million, with matched funding by the Government of Swaziland, for a three year rural water supply programme building the capacity of rural communities to manage their water supply systems. Consideration is also being given to some funding for school water supplies as part of the current emergency relief programme.
	In Botswana we are only indirectly involved in rural water supply, through a #2 million contribution to the Government's recently approved Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Programme, intended to support a broad range of initiatives having an impact on rural poverty.
	DFID is also supporting the water sector in southern Africa through regional initiatives, including #0.9 million of support to the regional office of the Global Water Partnership, and have made provision for # 2.0 million to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) aimed at both capacity building and support for specific pro-poor projects in the water sector.

Development Education

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the Department for Education and Skills regarding the inclusion of development education in the National Curriculum.

Clare Short: There has been frequent contact over the last four years with the Department for Education and Skills regarding the inclusion of development and the global dimension in the subjects taught under the national Curriculum. These discussions led, among other things, to the production of a joint DFID and DfES booklet XDeveloping a global dimension in the school curriculum"; the ongoing production of guidance to teachers on how to bring the global dimension into specific subjects; and the inclusion of developing countries in the Teachers International Development Programme.

Ethiopia

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial contribution has been made by (a) the UK Government and (b) the EU to (i) the WFP's appeal for Ethiopia and (ii) the Government of Ethiopia to address the food shortages.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Meriden on 25 November. Official Report, column 29—30W.

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in the research and development of new vaccines for developing countries under GAVI; and if she will list research programmes funded under GAVI.

Clare Short: GAVI was designed to support research and development (R&D) of new vaccines relevant to developing countries. The first phase of its work was to identify candidate vaccines and stimulate research and innovation, which complemented existing research.
	Two potential vaccines, both of which are at an advanced stage of development, were selected for support: against rotavirus (the most common cause of severe dehydrating diarrhoea among children) and pneumococcal disease (a cause of pneumonia and meningitis).
	GAVI has also developed the concept of Accelerated Development and Introduction Plans (ADIPs), which will manage the support to each vaccine and aim to help demonstrate its efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness, encourage uptake and support its introduction. Competitive bids to run the ADIPs for rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccine were requested and proposals were submitted in October 2002. The GAVI board is now in the process of deciding how to respond to these bids. Once the ADIP contracts are awarded then the support to R&D will start.

Global Fund

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has contributed to the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria in 2002; and how much she plans to contribute in 2003.

Clare Short: My Department pledged #138 million to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) over five years. Contributions for calendar year 2002 will be #50 million. #25 million was paid in April 2002 and a further #25 million will be paid in December 2002. As the fund gets established, we will closely monitor its effectiveness and the value it adds to the international effort against the three diseases, and review our contributions accordingly. A further #25 million will be contributed in calendar year 2003, depending on performance.

Global Health Fund (Grants)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of the grants allocated by the Global Health Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria have been for (a) HIV prevention and (b) the provision of anti-retroviral drugs.

Clare Short: Under the first round of applications to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) US$ 616 million was approved and committed for the first two years. Nearly 70 per cent. of these resources are for HIV/AIDS programmes.
	Of the 28 countries with approved HIV/AIDS proposals from the first round, 20—over 70 per cent.—include some money for highly active anti retro viral therapy (HAART). The first round proposal form did not request specific data from applicants on how much money would be expended on antiretrovirals. However, the Fund estimates that approximately 20 per cent. of money from the first round was allocated to the provision of drugs (some of which will be for antiretrovirals), and 20 per cent. on commodities (some of which will be for HIVprevention).

Rape (Democratic Republic of Congo)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps are being taken to (a) reduce incidents of rape and (b) provide support for rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Clare Short: We are extremely concerned about the levels rape and violence to which women in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are subjected. Through our Embassies in Kinshasa and Kigali, and through direct contact with local authorities when visiting the East, the UK Government raised the urgent need to address these issues with representatives from all sides including the RCD and Rwandan authorities. We are establishing a DFID office in Kinshasa from December 2002 and will be better placed to raise issues with relevant authorities in government held areas. We also support a number of civil society organisations, including International Alert and local rights organisations, that are working in eastern DRC to monitor and raise rights abuses with authorities, as well as providing some limited support to women victims.

Rwanda

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial support the United Kingdom Government has given to (a) the International Criminal Tribunal Court and (b) the establishment of Gachacha community courts in Rwanda in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2002.

Clare Short: The United Kingdom provides support to the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) through assessed annual contributions made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from the Conflict Prevention Pool. The UK share of the budget was #3.475 million in 2001 and #3.782 million in 2002. The United Kingdom has not so far provided any direct support to the establishment of Gacaca community courts in Rwanda. DFID has however provided substantial direct budgetary support to the Government of Rwanda amounting to #18 million in 2001–02 and 22 million in 2002–03. The Government of Rwanda can allocate these funds to finance priority activities such as Gacaca in accordance with their national poverty reduction and reconciliation objectives. DFID representatives in Kigali participate in donor coordination mechanisms related to Gacaca. We are reviewing options for possible support to the Gacaca process in 2003

Sexual Abuse (Zimbabwe)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress is being made in (a) investigating allegations and (b) reducing incidents of sexual abuse in the Tongogara refugee camp in Zimbabwe.

Clare Short: The country representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, together with the Zimbabwean authorities, have completed their investigation. Both parties have implemented a number of measures to address the problems found. Two non-governmental organisation staff have been dismissed, and the number of personnel working in the camp has been increased. There is now a greater 24-hour presence, including Police officers and women personnel. UNHCR's office has also been strengthened to ensure on-going monitoring of the work of NGO partners implementing support programmes for the refugees.

WALES

Coalfields Regeneration Trust

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what sum is paid to Wales under the Coalfields Regeneration Trust; and what the budget is for England and Wales.

Don Touhig: The total budget of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust to fund regeneration projects in coalfield (and former coalfield) communities across England, Scotland and Wales is #50 million over three years from its launch in late 1999. Wales' allocation is #3.462 million.

Pay Differential

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the pay differential between Wales and the rest of the UK in the last 12 months.

Peter Hain: Based on the latest figures available (from the New Earnings Survey, April 2001—April 2002), the average personal salary in Wales is #20,784.40 (#399.70 p.w). The Office for National Statistics publishes figures for GB rather than the UK. The corresponding figure for GB as a whole is #24,164.40 (464.70 p/w). Expressed as a differential, the average Welsh salary is 13.99 per cent. lower than the average salary for GB as a whole.

Salaries

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average personal salary is in (a) Wales and (b) the rest of the United Kingdom.

Peter Hain: Based on the latest figures available (from the New Earnings Survey, April 2001—April 2002), the average personal salary in Wales is #20,784.40 (#399.70 pw). The Office for National Statistics publishes figures for GB as opposed to the UK. The equivalent figure for GB as a whole is #24,164.40 (#464.70p/w).

HOME DEPARTMENT

Accommodation Centres

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about his powers (a) to make proposals for and (b) to select sites for an accommodation centre, with special reference to the provisions of part 2 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

Beverley Hughes: Section 16 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 gives the Secretary of State power to arrange for the provision of premises for the accommodation of persons in accordance with part 2 of that Act. Nothing in part 2 of the Act limits the discretion of the Secretary of State in respect of the proposed sites for accommodation centres or in respect of which sites he may decide to submit planning notifications.

Animal Experiments

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what animal experiments licensed by the Home Office have involved the feeding of genetically modified crop plants to farm animals and poultry since 1997; when the experiments took place and how many animals were involved; which genetically modified crops were used in the experiments; how long the experiments lasted; what their respective completion dates were; what their reference numbers were; and which experiments received public funding.

Bob Ainsworth: A small number of studies looking at the nutritional value and safety of some genetically modified food-stuffs have been licensed by the Home Office under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. However, it is not departmental policy to give details which could identify where and by whom work licensed under the 1986 Act is undertaken. Other information requested is not readily available from departmental records and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Anti-social Behaviour

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is being taken to tackle anti-social behaviour.

John Denham: We have already introduced measures to tackle anti-social behaviour including changes to increase the effectiveness of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in the Police Reform Act 2002. We have increased police capacity by creating and funding community support officers and strengthening the powers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices. We will build on this through the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.
	The Queen's speech outlined a new drive to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour—we will be producing a White Paper in the New Year and a bill to reinforce this drive.

Anti-social Behaviour

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what forecasts have been made of the likely impact of new (a) licensing and (b) anti-social behaviour provisions in (i) the North West, and (ii) Burnley; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The Licensing Bill, introduced to the House of Lords on 14 November, was accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Assessment, and has been deposited in the Library. The expected impacts include reductions in binge drinking prior to fixed closing times and related drunkenness in the streets. A more gradual dispersal of consumers should also lead to a decrease in reports of nuisance and noise. We believe that these provisions will benefit people throughout the country.
	The Anti-Social Behaviour Bill will build on existing provisions and fill gaps, where appropriate, to tackle anti-social behaviour—wherever it occurs.

Anti-social Behaviour

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the prevalence of anti-social behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The prevalence of anti-social behaviour is assessed using information from the British Crime Survey, which provides a measure of the public's perception of the level of disorder and anti-social behaviour in their area. The survey asks about problems caused by noisy neighbours or loud parties, teenagers hanging around on the streets, rubbish or litter lying around, vandalism and graffiti, racial attacks, drug dealing and people being drunk or rowdy.

Asylum Seeker Housing

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his reply of 3 December 2002, (ref 84175) on asylum seekers, how many asylum seekers have been housed by Clearsprings Management Ltd., broken down by local authority area; what fees have been paid per asylum seeker for their housing broken down by local authority; and what other contracted services Clearsprings Management Ltd. provides for his Department.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) has only one contract with Clearsprings Management Ltd. to provide accommodation for destitute asylum seekers. I am unable to give details about payments to Clearsprings under the terms of this contract since this information is commercial in confidence.
	Statistics are currently not available on the number of asylum seekers placed by NASS in accommodation owned by individual accommodation providers. To provide these figures would involve a disproportionate cost.

Benefits Payments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) patterns and (b) levels of crime of the phased withdrawal of payable order books for payment of social security benefits, with particular reference to sources of finance for the purchase of illegal drugs.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 2 December 2002
	The Home Office has not made any assessment of the implications for patterns and levels of crime associated with this proposal. I understand that the Department for Work and Pensions monitors claims activity to inform counter-fraud activity and will look for any changes in patterns of behaviour during the rollout to direct payment.

Burrell Case

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 25 November, Official Report, column 98W, regarding the Burrell Case, when he was informed that the trial would collapse.

Hilary Benn: The right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary and Attorney General keep in close contact on a range of matters. This issue came up in the course of that regular contact.

Chelmsford Prison

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the approved number of places is at Chelmsford Prison; and how many prisoners are housed there;
	(2)  what proposals he has to provide additional prison places in Essex.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 9 December 2002
	There are no immediate plans to build a new prison in Essex, or to increase the number of prison places in existing prisons in the area. The Prison Service is continually reviewing its estate, and it may be that such plans are considered at a future date.
	On 29 November 2002, the operational capacity of Chelmsford Prison was 576. On the same day, the total population at the prison was 567.

Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West of 5 November 2002, regarding airport security; and for what reason his reply has been delayed.

John Denham: The hon. Member's letter was received in the Home Office on 19 November 2002. The correspondence was transferred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Alistair Darling) on 4 December 2002, who will be replying shortly.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of criminal injuries compensation budget for 2002–03 was allocated in the first six months of the financial year.

Hilary Benn: 51 per cent.

Criminal Justice

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish (a) Criminal Statistics England and Wales 2001 and (b) Prison Statistics England and Wales 2002.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 2 December 2002
	It is proposed to publish Criminal Statistics, England and Wales 2001 on 12 December
	Prison Statistics for England and Wales 2002 is planned for publication in 2003.

Criminal Records Bureau

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which Indian cities the outsource of personnel of the Criminal Records Bureau is located.

Hilary Benn: There are no Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) personnel located in India. However, some data processing work relating to CRB disclosure applications has been outsourced by Capita to Hayes Plc and is undertaken at a site in Chennai, formerly known as Madras.

Criminal Records Bureau

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last discussed with the Chief Executive of the Criminal Records Bureau the performance of the Bureau; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 9 December 2002
	My noble Friend, Lord Falcolner of Thoroton, holds weekly meetings with the Chief Executive of the Criminal Records Bureau to discuss the operational performance of the Bureau. In addition to these meetings, the Chief Executive also provides Ministers with both weekly and monthly reports detailing the current operational situation.

Custody Plus

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the cost of (a) introducing and (b) running the custody plus scheme.

Hilary Benn: [holding answer 2 December 2002: The majority of the costs for implementing custody plus (both the costs of introducing the new sentence and of running it thereafter) fall on the Probation Service who need to build up capacity to manage an increased case load of approximately 50,000 per annum as a result of this new sentence. Current estimates are that an additional #19 million, #70 million, #136 million, #175 million, #186 million and #194 million for the financial years 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09 respectively will be needed for the Probation Service to implement all the sentencing provisions in the Bill. Costs are expected to be in the order of #194 million annually thereafter.

Domestic Violence

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the prevalence of domestic violence within different categories of family configuration and marital status;
	(2)  what research into the prevalence of domestic violence has been funded by central government in the last five years; and which of these studies break down their results by (a) family configuration and (b) marital status.

John Denham: The British Crime Survey (BCS) provides overall trend information on the number of incidents of domestic violence. The BCS figures are derived from a sample and so are subject to sampling error. Moreover, the BCS is carried out by face-to-face interviews and some respondents may be unwilling to reveal experience of domestic violence to interviewers. Copies of the BCS are available in the Library.
	However, the 1996 BCS included a self-completion component on domestic violence to encourage disclosure. Results from this were published in Home Office Research Study No.191—copies are available in the Library. This more confidential approach to measurement revealed that the proportion of women who were victims of domestic assault in the preceding year was over three times higher than in the main BCS. This study also has information on the marital status of victims (page 29), and whether there are children in the household (page 32).
	In addition, BCS interviews conducted in the 2001–02 financial year provide the following information (from face-to-face interviews).
	
		
			 Living arrangements Percentage of respondents(11) 
		
		
			 Married 0.2 
			 Cohabiting 0.7 
			 Single 1.3 
			 Separated 4.4 
			 Divorced 1.0 
			 Widowed 0.2 
			   
			 Head of household under 60  
			 Single adult and child(ren) 3.8 
			 Adults and child(ren) 0.7 
			 No children 0.6 
			 Head of household over 60 0.1 
			 All adults 0.6 
		
	
	(11) Who were victims of domestic violence once or more
	The 2001 BCS also contained an interpersonal violence self-completion module designed to estimate the extent of domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking. The module included questions on the marital status of victims and the family configuration. Results are expected to be published in Summer 2003,

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistics regarding domestic violence are tracked at UK level.

John Denham: Domestic violence is not separately identified in recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has collected information from police forces on the number of reported incidents of partner-on-partner violence since 1993. The British Crime Survey (BCS) can provide information on the number of incidents of domestic violence against women and men. The Home Office also collects information on all homicides, which can identify the relationship between the victim and perpetrator.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there is a standard model for the role of domestic violence officer in the UK.

John Denham: There is currently no standard role for domestic violence (DV) officer in the UK. Home Office Circular 60/1990 emphasised the need for the establishment of dedicated units or specialist officers to deal with DV incidents. XPolicing domestic violence —a modular training programme", a national training product developed by Centrex and issued in November 2003, will provide a structured but flexible approach to the delivery of domestic violence training within the police service including to domestic violence officers.

Drugscope

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much central government funding was provided to Drugscope in each of the last five years.

Bob Ainsworth: Drugscope and its predecessor organisations the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse and the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependency received the following funds from the Home Office, Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
	
		
			  # 
		
		
			 1998–99 774,000 
			 1999–2000 1,287,322 
			 2000–01 1,215,188 
			 2001–02 1,092,990 
			 2002–03 706,511 
		
	
	2002–03 figures relate to spend to date and known commitments and may not reflect accurately the final outturn figure.
	These figures are based upon information available from departmental accounting systems and do not include all payments for consultancy work.
	In addition, Drugscope was also successful in securing #76,294 over the two years 2002–03 and 2003–04 from the Recovered Assets Fund.

Emergency Planning

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what responsibilities he has for emergency planning and the co-ordination of the work of emergency planning authorities; and how his exercise of such responsibilities in London differs from that elsewhere in (a) England and (b) the UK.

John Denham: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister (Mr. Blair) made clear to the House on 20 November, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary (Mr. Blunkett) has responsibility for ensuring effective arrangements are in place to co-ordinate the Government's response to major emergencies.
	The Home Secretary chairs three Cabinet Committees which co-ordinate this work: DOP (IT) (T) which oversees the work to strengthen the UK's defences against terrorism, DOP (IT) (R) which works to build the UK's resilience and ability to manage the consequences of major emergencies; and the Civil Contingencies Committee which meets to oversee lead department's management of major emergencies and manage their wider effects. The devolved Administrations are represented on the relevant committees.
	The Cabinet Office provide the Home Secretary with direct support headed at official level by Sir David Omand, who is the Permanent Secretary in charge of security and intelligence co-ordination. All Departments have a responsibility to plan, prepare, train and exercise for handling major incidents and emergencies that might occur within their field of responsibility. It is their Ministers' responsibility to ensure that they are ready to take the leading role on behalf of central Government in managing the initial response to a major emergency, mitigating its immediate effects, and organising the development of a recovery plan.
	My right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Prescott) is replying to you on his responsibilities in this area, and on the specific arrangements for London. My right hon. Noble Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Lord McDonald) has responsibility for the work of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, including the payment of the Civil Defence Grant.

Emergency Planning

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local agreements have been established between fire authorities and health authorities at local level in relation to the handling of an NBC attack.

John Denham: holding answer 5 December 2002
	A national Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate and the Department of Health for the mass decontamination of casualties following a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident was drawn up in December 2001. The MoU is intended to provide a national framework for locally agreed plans and procedures for mass decontamination.
	Agreements have already been established to cover the fire authorities in 19 of the 28 strategic health authorities in England. In all other areas, agreements are being finalised for adoption.
	The Devolved Administrations have adopted the approach of agreeing a single Memorandum of Understanding to cover all fire and health authorities.

Emergency Planning

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions Ministers have met under his chairmanship in the past six months to discuss civil protection.

John Denham: holding answer 5 December 2002
	In line with Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, information on the proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees is not disclosed. However, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, has regular contact with his colleagues in relation to his responsibilities for counter terrorism and civil contingency.

Entertainment Venues

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in developing arrangements under which entertainment venues would contribute to the policing and public order costs arising from their activities.

John Denham: We have set up a working group, comprising representatives of the Home Office, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the association of Chief Police Officers and the football authorities, to consider a range of strategic football issues, including police charging policy in connection with matches, and the investment of football clubs in the wider community.
	The Government is also concerned at the costs incurred in policing entertainment venues, particularly pubs and clubs which operate late into the night and major events such as sporting and outdoor entertainment. We welcome schemes where entertainment outlets contribute to the additional policing costs associated with alcohol related disturbance.

Exceptional Leave to Remain

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy regarding exceptional leave to remain.

Beverley Hughes: Our policy is to give protection to those people who need it. However exceptional leave has acted as a pull factor for people to come to the United Kingdom in the belief that they will be given exceptional leave if their asylum claim is refused.
	We have decided to tighten up the basis on which leave will be granted to those who have been refused asylum. The current exceptional leave provisions will be replaced by a new form of XHumanitarian Protection" which will offer protection to those who have protection needs but are not covered by the 1951 Convention.

Firefighters' Dispute

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of police officers who will be removed from normal duties to escort Green Goddesses during the duration of the firefighters' strike; and what estimate he has made of the cost to police authorities of this additional responsibility in terms of overtime, cancelled rest days and non-availability for routine activity.

John Denham: holding answer 19 November 2002
	I understand from the Association of Chief Police Officers that between 5,000–6,000 police officers, mostly working rest days, were used per day to escort Green Goddesses and staff control rooms during the firefighters dispute.
	I have been advised by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) that it is very difficult to predict exactly what the final cost to police authorities of supporting emergency fire cover will be, as this will depend on the nature of the strike activity.

Immigration

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for permanent leave to remain have been made since January; how many were made in (a) 2001 and (b) 2000; what the average waiting time is to determine applications for permanent leave to remain; what the waiting time was in December (i) 2001 and (ii) 2000; what estimate he has made of how many extra staff would be needed to reduce the waiting time to three months; and if he will make it his policy that supporting documentation is copied upon receipt of the application and returned to the applicant while waiting for determination.

Beverley Hughes: The latest available information on the number of people granted settlement (permanent leave to remain) is as follows. Information on the number of applications made for settlement is not available.
	(a) 106,820 granted settlement in 2001; and
	(b) 125,090 granted settlement in 2000.
	There are no published data on decision times to determine applications for settlement. Our aim is to screen all postal applications within three weeks. Most applications (i.e. those which are straightforward) are decided on an initial screening. Due to a busy period for immigration applications between September and November, the initial screening of new applications is at present taking up to eight weeks on average. We are working to reduce this to three weeks or less, but are unlikely to achieve that for the next two to three months because of the exceptionally high intake. Because of the high number of applications, some which need further inquiries or more detailed consideration can take over 12 months to decide. Information on general processing times for applications is provided to applicants on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) website at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk
	We are looking at what extra resources will be required to provide a better service.
	Where applications are handed into the Public Enquiry Office and cannot be completed on the day, the sponsor's passport is copied and handed back to the caller. We will extend this practice in January to those new postal applications where the application cannot be decided on initial consideration.

Immigration (Removals)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were removed by his Department in November.

Beverley Hughes: I regret that information on the number of people removed under Immigration Act powers in November 2002 is not yet available. Figures for total removals will be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin XControl of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002", which is due for publication in August 2003.
	Monthly statistics showing the number of asylum removals are available from the Home Office quarterly asylum statistics bulletin. Figures for November will be available in XAsylum Statistics: 4th Quarter 2002, United Kingdom", which is scheduled for publication in February 2003.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the backlog of cases is in each division at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Beverley Hughes: At the end of September 2002, there were 37,200 asylum cases awaiting an initial decision, including work in progress.
	On the same date, there were an estimated 47,000 appeals lodged with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) that had not yet been sent to the Immigration Appellate Authority. This figure includes non-asylum appeals.Information on the number of cases outstanding in other divisions of IND is not available.
	Information on the number of asylum cases awaiting an initial decision is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Internet Child Pornography

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources are available to the police to deal with the recent names given to them by US detectives investigating internet child pornography.

Hilary Benn: The new National Policing Plan requires forces to include child protection in their local policing plans, strengthen their partnership arrangements and carefully select and train staff working in this area.
	This reinforces the Joint Chief Inspectors' Report on Arrangements to Safeguard Children recommendation that police forces and authorities should review the role, remit, location and status of child protection units to ensure that child protection is dealt with to a consistently high standard.
	As part of the investment programme for police services in England and Wales, this year (2002–03) the police received an overall funding increase of 6.1 per cent. (on top of record spending and a record increase of 10.1 per cent. in 2001–02) taking the total provision to #9,010 million. In addition policing will receive an increase of #1.5 billion for policing as a wholeby 2005–06 over the 2002–03 figure.The Home Office has also decided to provide an additional #½ million in this financial year only to assist the Association of Chief Police Officers national structure to support operations to combat child abuse on the internet.
	Operational decisions on allocation of police resources to combating child exploitation rest with police authorities and chief officers. There is no central record of the additional resources which chief officers across forces may have allocated to deal with investigations resulting from this operation.

Metropolitan Police

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Metropolitan Police officers there were in each of the last 10 years.

John Denham: holding answer 27 November 2002
	The information is set out in the table.
	
		Metropolitan police
		
			 Year(12) Police officers(13) 
		
		
			 1992 28,154 
			 1993 27,867 
			 1994 27,699 
			 1995 27,480 
			 1996 27,343 
			 1997 26,677 
			 1998 26,094 
			 1999 26,073 
			 2000 25,485 
			 2001 (14)24,878 
			 2002 26,223 
		
	
	(12) As at 31 March
	(13) Figures are for full-time equivalent strength
	(14) Police strength in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) for March 2001 was reduced as a result of boundary changes on 1 April 2000 between the MPS and the Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. Consequently it is not possible to make like with like strength comparison over the 10 years

Police

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to make performance data relating to police basic command units publicly available; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: holding answer 2 December 2002
	Information is already published about the performance of police basic command units (BCUs) in reducing and detecting crime in respect of six types of crime which are of particular public concern. The most recent published figures, covering the year 2001–02, can be found in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/02 which was published in July.
	The National Policing Plan described the on-going work to develop a more rounded picture of police performance. Performance radar diagrams will be introduced to provide a quick and visual representation of police performance across a number of policing responsibilities. Following discussion with forces and police authorities these will be published as appropriate. In due course these will cover both forces and BCUs.

Police (Staffordshire)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian police workers there were in Staffordshire in each of the last 10 years.

John Denham: holding answer 4 December 2002
	The information is set out in the table.
	
		Staffordshire police
		
			 Year (as at 31 March) Police strength(15) Civilian support staff strength(15) 
		
		
			 1993 2,179 737 
			 1994 2,208 746 
			 1995 2,231 749 
			 1996 2,209 753 
			 1997 2,211 763 
			 1998 2,292 866 
			 1999 2,238 1,004 
			 2000 2,170 858 
			 2001 2,129 935 
			 2002 2,133 1,030 
		
	
	(15) Figures are full-time equivalents for civilian support staff. For police officers full-time equivalent strength figures were introduced from March 1995, following the introduction of part-time working for officers.

Police Service Targets

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the targets he has set which apply to the police service.

John Denham: The National Policing Plan, which was presented to Parliament on 29 November 2002 in accordance with Section 1 of the Police Reform Act 2002, sets out, for the first time in one document, the strategic national priorities for the police service over the next three years and the indicators against which the performance of the service will be judged.
	The police service is asked, through police authorities and police forces, to contribute to the Home Department achieving its Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets. These have been detailed in Section 10 and Annex A of the National Policing Plan. A summary of actions that Chief Officers and police authorities should take into account is at Annex B of the same document. The number of Best Value Performance Indicators, which was 32 in 2001–02, has dropped to 19 in 2002–03 and will remain 19 for 2003–04.
	All forces and authorities are subject to audit and inspection, and each is required to demonstrate a continuous drive for efficiency by meeting an annual target of savings/efficiency gains equivalent to 2 per cent.; of their annual budget.

Police Training

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of police recruits who commenced training completed their probation service in each police authority area in each year since 1995.

John Denham: holding answer 25 November 2002
	Tables showing the numbers of officers appointed on probation (which is the closest equivalent to recruits entering training have been placed in the Library). Data on officers confirmed on appointment (i.e. having completed their probation) has been collected only since 2001. That data is given for 2001–02 but it does not, of course, relate directly to the numbers appointed in that year.

Post-Release Supervision

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take measures to make the extended post-release supervision mandatory for ten years for sexual and violent offenders.

Hilary Benn: The Government are committed to the protection of the public. This is reflected in provisions within the Criminal Justice Bill to introduce new sentences for sexual and violent offenders who have been assessed as dangerous. These sentences will replace existing provisions for dealing with sexual and violent offenders, including the extended supervision provision in section 85 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
	Under the new sentences an offender who commits a specified sexual or violent offence carrying a maximum sentence of between two and 10 years must be sentenced to the new extended sentence. Release during the second half of this sentence will be upon recommendation of the Parole Board and the Court will be required to add periods of extended supervision of up to nine years to the sentence.

Prison Health Service (Wales)

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in transferring funding responsibility for prison health services to the NHS in Wales.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 9 December 2002
	I am in touch with the Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Assembly. Welsh Assembly and Home Office officials are considering the arrangements that would be needed to effect the transfer of responsibility for prison health services to the national health service (NHS) in Wales.

Prison Releases (Drug Addicts)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people leaving prison were drug addicts in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000 and (e) 2001.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The Prison Service does not measure the number of prisoners leaving prison with drug-related problems.

Prisons

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in the prison population on (a) the assault rate on (i) prisoners and (ii) staff, (b) offending behaviour courses, (c) staff-prisoner ratios, (d) family visits and (e) purposeful activity.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 2 December 2002
	The Prison Service is working to minimise the disruption caused to prisoners and their regime by the population increase.
	The rate of positive adjudications of assault has reduced in recent months. This is due in part to prisoners spending more time in their cells but the current assault rate is also depressed pending the introduction of new adjudication arrangements brought in after the removal of added day punishments. Although the population increase has affected staff-prisoner ratios, the operational capacity of each establishment is set to minimise the risks to security, safety and control.
	With population close to operational capacity, a greater number of prisoners must be moved to maximise the available accommodation. This increases the number of prisoners being held away from their home area and for some, the greater distance can disrupt family visits. Prisoners held temporarily in police cells are not granted family visits, although the aim is that the time an individual prisoner spends in police cells is kept to a minimum and that prisoners who are particularly vulnerable are accommodated in prisons, wherever possible.
	The Prison Service aims to avoid transferring prisoners that are on or awaiting offending behaviour programmes, however some disruption is inevitable while programmes are relocated away from local establishments which suffer most from increased turnover. The average level of purposeful activity across the estate has fallen slightly.

Romford

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the policing and public order costs generated by entertainment venues in Romford town centre.

John Denham: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that his estimate of the cost of policing disorder in Romford town centre between 7pm and 6am, when entertainment venues attract much of their clientele, is, so far this year, in the region of #240,000.

XSecure Borders, Safe Haven" White Paper

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to proceed with the proposals contained in paragraphs 7.6, 7.10 and 7.11 of the White Paper XSecure Borders, Safe Haven.

Beverley Hughes: We expect to reach a decision shortly on these proposals. A Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules will then be laid before Parliament.

Sexual Offenders Register

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are on the Sexual Offenders Register; and how many were on the register in 1997.

Hilary Benn: The Sex Offenders Act 1997 requires offenders cautioned for, convicted of, or found not guilty by reason of insanity of an offence specified in Schedule One to the Act since the date of its implementation to notify the police of their names, addresses, dates of birth and intentions to travel abroad for eight days or longer. The requirements of the Act also apply to offenders who were serving a sentence for a relevant offence, either in prison or in the community, at the date of its implementation (1 September 1997). There is, however, no central register of sex offenders and offenders subject to the requirements of the Sex Offenders Act are not separately identified in criminal statistics.
	Information on the number of 'registered' sex offenders in a police area is submitted by police and probation services under the requirements placed on them established by section 67 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
	As at 31 March 2002, police forces in England and Wales had notified the Home Office of 18,513 'registered' sex offenders.
	I am informed by the Scottish Executive that as at 28 August 2002, 1,816 registered sex offenders were recorded by the Scottish Criminal Record Office as being administered by Scottish Police Forces.
	The provisions of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 were commenced on 1 September 1997. A Home Office evaluation of the way the Act had been implemented was published in July 2000. This indicated that at 31 August 1998, one year after implementation, 8,608 sex offenders were subject to the Act's requirements. Figures covering the last three months of 1997 are not available.

Violent Crime (Havering)

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of violent crime were recorded in the London borough of Havering in the last year, broken down into (a) offences of violence against the person, (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery and (d) criminal damage; what proportion of those offences occurred within Romford town centre between 7 pm and 6 am; and what percentage of recorded violent crime within Havering this represents.

John Denham: The numbers of violent crimes recorded in Havering for the year ending March 2002 are given in the table.
	
		Numbers of violent crimes in Havering, year ending March 2002
		
			  Number 
		
		
			  
			 Violence against the person 3,225 
			 Sexual Offences 173 
			 Robbery 549 
		
	
	Numbers of recorded crimes for areas within London boroughs are not available centrally. Numbers of recorded criminal damage offences by London boroughs for this time period are not yet available centrally.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Beacon Schools

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanism is in place to have funds returned from beacon schools in the event of their closure.

David Miliband: holding answer 5 December 2002
	In the event of a beacon school closing, the local education authority's Standards Fund allocation is reduced accordingly. Any unspent beacon funds held by the school would be identified alongside other grants still held and returned to the local education authority and then offset against future Standards Fund payments by the Department.

Examination Results

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will publish the 2002 GCSE results for (a) Chesham Park Community College and (b) other secondary schools.

David Miliband: The 2002 GCSE results will be published in the secondary school performance tables towards the end of January 2003. These tables will include the results for Chesham Park Community College.

Laboratory Technicians

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what extra grant he has made available to schools for laboratory technicians.

David Miliband: In 200304 we are making available to local education authorities, through Standards Fund Grant, #268 million to cover the costs of recruiting extra school support staff and extra administrative help, particularly for small schools, and #37.45 million for the training and development of support staff.
	This additional funding should contribute significantly to the transformation of the school workforce, of which school science laboratory technicians, as well as many others who work to support teachers in the classroom, are vital members. We estimate that, during this Parliament, schools should have the capacity to recruit at least an extra 50,000 full-time equivalent support staff, including science technicians. In addition, the new National Network of Science Learning Centres will provide training and professional development opportunities for technicians.

Official Travel

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the total expenditure of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies was on official travelling in 200102;
	(2)  what the total budget of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies is for official travel in 200203.

Stephen Twigg: holding answer 3 December 2002
	Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing #500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. The cost of Ministers' visits overseas for 200203 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year.
	Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
	All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Per Capita Allocations

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Government allocates per year to educate a child aged 11 to 16 years in the Portsmouth, South constituency; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Department does not hold information on funding provided at constituency level. Most funding provided by the Department is distributed via local education authorities. The table shows the Government's education Standard Spending Assessment and departmental grants allocated to Portsmouth local education authority in 200203. Where possible, funding intended for secondary schools has been identified; but for most grants it is not possible to break down the allocations for secondary schools (pupils aged 1116). Grants are mainly allocated across all phases and the amounts going to each type of school will be a matter for local decision.
	
		
			  # million 
		
		
			 Standard Spending Assessment(16) 37.737 
			 Standards Fund Grant(17) 5.530 
			 School Standards Grant(18) 0.745 
			 Teachers Threshold Grant 1.038 
			 Capital Funding(19) 5.532 
		
	
	(16) Figure reflects education SSA settlement figures (secondary sub-block).
	(17) Figure comprises recurrent departmental contribution, excluding grants specifically allocated for early years or infant/primary purposes.
	(18) Figure reflects funding for secondary schools (excluding all special schools).
	(19) Funding includes Basic Need (ACG), Standards Fund Grant (Departmental contribution), New Deal for Schools, Schools Access Initiative and Voluntary Aided School Grant. It does not include funding for Class Size initiative (which is relevant only to primary schools).

University Merger (London)

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 2 December, Official Report, column 731W, on University Merger (London), what reply he gave to the President of University College and the Rector of Imperial College.

Margaret Hodge: A copy of my reply has been placed in the Library.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Disabled Children

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will implement the recommendation of the Steering Group of the Joint Fundamental Review of the Housing Adaptations Service on the abolition of the means test in relation to disabled children and their families.

Des Browne: The means test is an essential tool to allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to target grant towards those most in need. Any such exemption would seriously undermine the ability of the Housing Executive to target resources effectively. I will shortly be setting up a Working Group to review the means test to ensure that disabled children are not disadvantaged by it.

East Antrim Institute

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress towards providing a new East Antrim Institute building on the Larne Campus.

Jane Kennedy: In April 2002, the then Minister announced that #1.5 million was being made available for the provision of a new facility at the Larne campus of East Antrim Institute. The institutes is currently taking the project through procurement with construction expected to commence around May 2003.

Emergency Rehousing

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of NIHE tenants who have sought alternative emergency re-housing in Northern Ireland due to intimidation by paramilitary organisations since 1998.

Des Browne: Where Northern Ireland Housing Executive tenants seek alternative accommodation because of intimidation they are treated as being homeless. In such cases information on the source of intimidation and on the tenure of the applicant is not recorded.
	However since 1 April 1998, 6,740 households presented to the Housing Executive as homeless due to intimidation/civil disturbance.

Further Education Colleges

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by each Northern Ireland further education college on (a) consultancy fees and (b) audits in the last three years.

Jane Kennedy: Within the time available it is not possible to separate our consultancy costs. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as this information becomes available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.
	In the last three years, the following amounts have been spent by each Northern Ireland Further Education College on Audits:
	
		(b) Audits -- #
		
			 College 19992000 200001 200102 
		
		
			 Armagh College of Further and Higher Education 12,135 11,378 14,119 
			 Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education 53,519 61,671 45,216 
			 Castlereagh College of Further and Higher Education 10,797 10,264 9,406 
			 Causeway Institute of Further and Higher Education 4,633 9,090 13,692 
			 East Antrim Institute of Further and Higher Education 3,847 13,806 14,364 
			 East Down Institutes of Further and Higher Education 12,220 12,220 12,224 
			 East Tyrone College of Further and Higher Education 13,500 12,000 14,700 
			 Fermanagh College of Further and Higher Education 10,855 8,049 9,071 
			 Limavady College of Further and Higher Education 8,965 9,135 9,310 
			 Lisburn Institute of Further and Higher Education 10,000 8,500 13,000 
			 Newry and Kilkeel Institute of Further and Higher Education 17,014 12,178 20,539

Primary Schools

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list Northern Ireland primary schools which have an enrolment of 30 pupils and under, together with the current enrolment at each such school (a) in the controlled sector and (b) in the maintained sector.

Jane Kennedy: The information for 200203 is not yet available. For 200102 the information is as follows.
	
		
			  Year 1 to year 7 enrolment 
		
		
			 Controlled Sector  
			 Earl of Erne PS 17 
			 Tullywhisker PS 12 
			 Ballyrock PS 24 
			 Mosside PS 17 
			 Glenarm PS 26 
			 O'Neill Memorial PS 24 
			 Drumbo PS 22 
			 Groomsport PS 24 
			 Downshire PS 23 
			 Ardmore PS 20 
			 Toberlane PS 22 
			 Eglish PS 26 
			 Churchtown PS 24 
			 Granville PS 26 
			   
			 Maintained sector  
			 St. Matthew's PS, Garvaghey 30 
			 Envagh PS 16 
			 St. Davog's Scraghey PS 27 
			 St. Columba's PS, Dromore, Omagh 21 
			 St. Mary's PS (Laught) 16 
			 St. Patrick's PS, Seskinore 28 
			 St. Joseph's PS, Fintona 10 
			 Magilligan PS 30 
			 St. Mary's PS, Rathlin Island 5 
			 Braid PS 29 
			 St. Patrick's PS Aughtercloney, Ahogill 25 
			 Brackalislea PS 20 
			 St. Mary's PS, Aghadowey 27 
			 Tir-na-og PS 27 
			 St. Joseph's PS, Ahoghill 24 
			 Guiness PS 27 
			 St. Mary's PS, Ballygowan 29 
			 Our Lady's PS, Keady 11 
			 St. James's PS, Tandragee 26 
			 All Saints PS, Banbridge 18 
			 The Drelincourt Infants School 25

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadcasting Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to regulate the provision of subtitles, signing and audio-description of broadcasts to ensure the maintenance of quality standards.

Kim Howells: The Communications Bill gives Ofcom a requirement to produce, publish and from time to time review, a code relating to provision of television services for the deaf and visually impaired and the means by which such services should be promoted. The code will include guidance on the technical standards to be attained for subtitling, signing and audio description as the current code produced by the Independent Television Commission does.

Church Licences

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on introducing additional licence fees for churches that stage plays and concerts; and if she will make a statement.

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received concerning the proposed enforcement of local authority licensing on church venues and the payment of fees for musical performances in churches; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: In total, this Department has received eleven representations in connection with the proposal in the Licensing Bill to extend the licensing requirement beyond Greater London, where it currently applies. Among these representations, only one was from an organisation, which has since met with my officials to discuss their concerns.
	Earlier, following the publication of the White Paper on licensing reform in April 2000, we received eight responses from religious organisations; none of these letters took issue with the proposal to create a level playing field for the licensing of churches and other places of religious worship.
	The Government are aware of the concerns that some people have about the licensing of churches. We have had discussions about this issue with the Church of England and, along with other faith groups, will seek to ensure that the new licensing system does not impose an unnecessary burden on them while still providing the necessary safeguards for the public.

Community Fund Grants

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which projects in the Sedgefield constituency have benefited from community fund grants.

Kim Howells: The projects in the Sedgefield constituency that have benefited from community fund grants are as follows.
	Applicant Name
	Community Fund Main Grants
	Fishburn Community Action Group
	Puppies Playgroup
	Sedgefield Locality Carers Centre
	St. Francis Luncheon Club
	South West Durham Social Resource Centre
	St. Alban and St. Paul Trimdon Station Parochial Church Council
	Cornforth Partnership
	Cornforth Partnership
	Trimdon Grange Play Area Association
	Trimdon Village Hall
	Sedgefield District Help Furniture Scheme
	Community and Voluntary Sector Organisations Sedgefield CAVOS
	Trimdon Village Hall
	Cornforth Partnership
	Sedgefield Locality Carers Centre
	Dean Bank and Ferryhill Literary Institute
	Ferryhill LAD.D.E.R. Centre Ltd.
	Sedgefield Locality Carers Centre
	Small Grants Scheme
	Coundon Comets Juvenile Jazz Band
	Sadberge Village Hall Association
	REMAP GB (Wear and South Tyneside)
	Heighington Village Hall Association
	Neasham Reading Room and Club
	Great Aycliffe Village Hall Association
	The Acorn Players
	Middleton St. George Youth Club
	Trimdon Colliery Community Association
	Middleton St. George Pre School
	Youll House Thornley Senior Citizens' Club
	Hurworth Village Hall
	Cellar Sound
	Awards For All Schemes
	Bradbury Parish Meeting
	Hurworth and District Over 60s Club
	Hurworth Community Association Senior Citizens Club
	New Thornley Partnership
	Age Concern Chilton
	Deaf Hill Ward Regeneration Partnership
	Ferryhill Station and Chilton Lane Ward Residents Association
	Brafferton and Coatham Mundeville Village Hall Association
	Wear Valley Senior Citizens Dance Club
	Hurworth Community Association Senior Citizens Club
	Chilton West Residents' Association
	Hurworth and District Over 60s Club
	Ferryhill Kids Club
	St. Vincent De Paul Society, St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Furniture Help Scheme
	Trimdon United Junior Football Club
	Oakleaf Badminton ClubJunior Section
	Hurworth Village Hall
	Timothy Hackworth Primary School
	Rockliffe Park Cricket Club
	1st Peterlee Scout Group
	Spennymoor Disabled Club
	Chilton and Windleston Old Age Pensioners Association
	Sedgefield Cricket Club (Junior Section)
	The Little Rascals Trimdon Grange Parent and Toddler Group
	Hurworth and District Over 60s Club
	Sedgefield Community College
	Ferryhill Kids Club
	Trimdon Grange Community Centre Association
	West Cornforth Senior Citizen's Association
	The Durham Light Infantry (Horden/Peterlee Branch)
	Aycliffe and District Bus Preservation Society
	Diabetes UKBishop Auckland
	Alington House Quilters
	Pioneering Care Partnership
	Over the Hedge XMillennium Project Group
	Ferryhill Village Women's Institute
	Dolphin Junior Badminton Club
	Auckland Croquet Club
	Over the Hedge XMillennium Project Group
	Rainbow Fun Club
	Ferryhill Amateur Operatice Society
	Age Concern Thornley
	Yarm and District Saddle Club
	Chilton and Windlestone Disabled Club
	Ferryhill Town Council
	Chilton and Windlestone Disabled Club
	Neasham Reading Room and Club
	Ferryhill Station and Chilton Lane Ward Residents Association
	Trimdon Past and Present History Society
	Wheatley Hill Out of School Hours
	Darlington Ladies FC
	Age Concern Durham County Gold Collective Club
	Wingate Infant School
	Cellar Sound
	Tyne and Wear Women's Basketball Club
	Darlington and District Netball League
	St. Francis Luncheon Club
	Fishburn Art Group
	Greenfield School Community and Arts College
	Kelloe Cricket Club
	Bishop Middleham Village hall
	Sarah Scott School of Highland Dancing
	Darlington Ladies FC
	Aycliffe Village Primary School
	Newton Aycliffe Athletics Club
	Trimdon Station Residents Association
	St. Francis Church Committee
	Teesside Lions Wheelchair Sports Club
	Action for DystoniaDiagnosis, Epidemiology and Research
	Sedgefield Development Partnership
	Newton Aycliffe Cricket Club
	TARKA Ltd.
	Deaf Hill Primary School
	Trimdon Colliery Community Association
	Trimdon Grange Community Centre
	New Thornley Partnership
	Trimdon Millennium Celebrations Group
	Newton Aycliffe Youth A.F.C.
	National Playday Steering Group
	Newton Aycliffe RFC Junior Rugby
	Wellfield School
	Thornley Young People's Project
	Thornley Tapestry and Arts Group
	Neasham Reading Room and Club
	Castle Eden Playgroup (Parent/Toddler)
	East Durham Play and Community Network
	Jayenell Gymnastic Club
	Sedgefield Saxons
	Trimdon's Little Tykes
	Ferryhill Town Youth FC
	Tees Valley Cougars
	Sedgefield Area Committee
	The Newton Aycliffe Royal British Legion Pipes and Drums
	Darlington Table Tennis Club
	Heighington Budo Club
	Age Concern Thornley
	East Durham Play and Community Network
	Eaglescliffe Thunder
	The Eastbourne Cardinals
	lan Ramsey School Association
	Fishburn Amateur Boxing Club
	West Cornforth Out of School Fun Club
	Wheatley Hill Mothers Club
	8th Darlington (Cockerton Green) Scout Group
	Cornforth Partnership
	Sadberge Village Hall Association
	Wingate Women's Institute
	Wheatley Hill Community Association
	Wheatley Hill Heritage Society
	Newton Aycliffe Over Sixties Club
	DISC Ltd.
	Sedgefield Arts and Recreation Community Association
	Trimdon 2000 Ltd.
	Community and Voluntary Organisations Sedgefield
	Ferryhill Station Primary School
	Northumberland Table Tennis
	Ferryhill School.

Entertainment Licences

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the cost of the licensing provisions to churches and chapels; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The estimated fees in the Regulatory Impact Assessment published with the Licensing Bill were between #100 and #500 for a premises licence with a subsequent annual charge of between #50 and #150. Fees would be set centrally by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in secondary legislation and would not be made final until that secondary legislation has been brought into force. Any variation in fee levels would most likely relate to the size of the venue so that smaller venues pay less than large ones.
	The Government are aware of the concerns that some people have about the licensing of churches. We have had discussions about this issue with the Church of England and, along with other faith groups, will seek to ensure that the new licensing system does not impose an unnecessary burden on them while still providing the necessary safeguards for the public.

Entertainment Licences

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consultations she has had with representatives of faith organisations about the Government's proposals for entertainment licences for buildings whose prime purpose is religious.

Kim Howells: This Department has received 11 representations from different representatives of religious organisations concerning the proposal to extend the licensing requirement beyond Greater London. Among these representations, only one was from an organisation, whom officials have since met to discuss their concerns.
	We sent the White Paper, that was published in April 2000, to 231 organisations in order to gain their responses in respect of our proposals. We received eight responses to this consultation from religious organisations, including one from the Churches Main Committee. None of these were concerned with the proposal to create a level playing field for churches and other places of religious worship.
	The Government are aware of the concerns that some people have about the licensing of churches. We have had discussions about this issue with the Church of England and, along with other faith groups, will seek to ensure that the new licensing system does not impose an unnecessary burden on them while still providing the necessary safeguards for the public.

Entertainment Licences

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if the licensing of religious buildings for entertainments under the provisions of the Licensing Bill extends to (a) churchyards and other open ground within the curtilage of the building and (b) other secular buildings within the curtilage of the religious building; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: A premises licence or temporary provision would be required for any place where a licensable activity is to take place, be it a church, a secular building within the curtilage of the church, or an open area within the curtilage of the church, such as a churchyard.
	The application for the premises licence would have to be accompanied by an operating plan which would specify the areas that would be licensed.
	The Government are aware of the concerns that some people have about the licensing of churches. We have had discussions about this issue with the Church of England and, along with other faith groups, will seek to ensure that the new licensing system does not impose an unnecessary burden on them while still providing the necessary safeguards for the public.

Ladbrook Report

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will publish the Ladbrook Report on BBC News 24; whether the report has been sent to the BBC; and whether she plans to initiate similar reviews of the BBC digital channels.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State published Richard Lambert's independent review of BBC News 24 on 5 December and has placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses. The report was sent to the BBC on 2 September 2002. My right hon. Friend intends to hold similar reviews of all new BBC public services. The next service to be reviewed will be BBCi (formerly BBC Online).

Lottery Funding (Sport)

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to increase the amount of Lottery funding available for sport.

Kim Howells: The Government has guaranteed that sport will continue to receive its current 16 2/3 per cent. share of the funds the Lottery raises for good causes until the end of the current licence period in 2009 at the very least. Sport has benefited significantly from the creation of the newer good cause of health, education and the environment through, for example, the #750 million PE and sport in schools initiative by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). My Department, the National Lottery Commission and Camelot are continuing to work to maximise income for all the good causes.

Parliamentary Questions

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many oral questions her Department has answered on sport in each parliamentary session since May 1997.

Kim Howells: 293 oral questions on sport have been answered by my Department since May 1997. These are broken down by parliamentary year as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 199798 61 
			 199899 46 
			 19992000 54 
			 200001 41 
			 200102 91 
		
	
	Figures include those oral questions which received either oral or written answers.

Pigeons

Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Greater London Authority regarding a proposed fine for feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 December 2002
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Greater London Authority regarding a proposed fine for feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square.
	The Mayor for London wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 November informing her of his wish to introduce a Bylaw to prohibit the feeding of pigeons on Trafalgar Square. The Greater London Authority have published formal notice of their intention to apply to the Secretary of State for confirmation of the Bylaws. My right hon. Friend is the confirming authority for Bylaws relating to Trafalgar Square.

Social Inclusiveness

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures her Department has taken to extend social inclusiveness by increasing the involvement of identified priority groups in each of the sectors her Department has responsibility for; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Opening up our institutions to the wider community, to promote lifelong learning and social cohesion, is now a strategic priority for the Department. Progress on that priority will be assessed through one of the Department's four Public Service Agreement targets for the 200306 period:
	to increase significantly take-up of cultural and sporting opportunities by new users aged 20 and above from priority groups.
	As set out in the DCMS Service Delivery Agreement, the cultural and sporting opportunities will include those provided by arts facilities funded via the Arts Council of England, the national and regional museums and galleries, community sport, the historic environment, and the internet via Culture Online. These initiatives will build on existing projects such as Creative Partnerships and Space for Sport and Arts, which are bringing new opportunities to deprived areas around the country.

Sports (Recognition)

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the sports recognised by her Department.

Richard Caborn: Recognition of sports is a matter for the sports councils which currently recognise 112 activities. Recognition is based on a number of criteria including primarily Xphysical effort and Xskills. A full list which is publicly available, as follows.
	List of activities recognised by the national sports councils
	Aikido
	American Football
	Angling
	Archery
	Arm Wrestling
	Association Football
	Athletics
	Australian Rules Football
	Badminton
	Ballooning
	Baseball
	Basketball
	Baton Twirling
	Biathlon
	Bicycle Polo
	Billiards and Snooker
	Bobsleigh
	Boccia
	Bowls
	Boxing
	Camogie
	Canoeing
	Caving
	Chinese Martial Arts
	Cricket
	Croquet
	Crossbow
	Curling
	Cycling
	Disability Sport
	Dragon Boat Racing
	Equestrian
	Fencing
	Fives
	Flying
	Gaelic Football
	Gliding
	Golf
	Gymnastics
	Handball
	Hang/Para Gliding
	Highland Games
	Hockey
	Horse Racing
	Hovering
	Hurling
	Ice Hockey
	Ice Skating
	Jet Skiing
	Ju Jitsu
	Judo
	Kabaddi
	Karate
	Kendo
	Korfball
	Lacrosse
	Lawn Tennis
	Life Saving
	Luge
	Modern Pentathlon
	Motor Cycling
	Motor Sports
	Mountaineering
	Movement, Dance, Exercise and Fitness
	Netball
	Orienteering
	Parachuting
	Petanque
	Polo
	Pony Trekking
	Pool
	Quoits
	Racketball
	Rackets
	Racquetball
	Rambling
	Real Tennis
	Roller Hockey
	Roller Skating
	Rounders
	Rowing
	Rugby League
	Rugby Union
	Sailing
	Sand/Land Yachting
	Shinty
	Shooting
	Skateboarding
	Skiing
	Skipping
	Snowboarding
	Softball
	Sombo Wrestling
	Squash
	Skater/Street Hockey
	Sub-Aqua
	Surf Life Saving
	Surfing
	Swimming and Diving
	Table Tennis
	Taekwondo
	Tang Soo Do
	Tenpin Bowling
	Trampolining
	Triathlon
	Tug of War
	Unihoc
	Volleyball
	Water Skiing
	Weightlifting
	Wrestling
	Yoga

Underwater Archeology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment has been undertaken of the impact of the Government contract with Marine Odyssey Inc. for commercial salvage on an historic wreck upon the prospects for future UK accession to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage.

Kim Howells: It is not envisaged that there will be an impact, as this agreement is a unique pragmatic solution to a situation in which the archaeological heritage is at risk. It enables the Government to ensure that the site is excavated responsibly. Although the UK is not currently bound by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, the Government has stressed from the beginning that the project must as far as possible be developed in line with the rules contained in the Annex to the Convention, which are seen as representing best practice for maritime archaeology.

Wrecks

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what English Heritage's role is in relation to proposed salvage operations on the wreck believed to be that of the 17th century warship, Sussex.

Kim Howells: English Heritage has this year become the Government's advisors on underwater heritage, and they have become involved in this project by chairing an independent Archaeological Review Group which is scrutinising the Project Plan to ensure that it complies with appropriate archaeological standards. They will also be asked for advice on post-excavation conservation, research and publication.

Wrecks

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on the protection, management and care of historic wrecks of non-UK origin located in the UK's domestic waters.

Kim Howells: The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 contains provisions which provide protection of wrecks in UK waters which are deemed to be of historical, archaeological or artistic significance, regardless of their origin. This is a devolved matter; the protection and management of wrecks in the waters of the devolved administrations is a matter for the relevant First Minister.
	No distinction is made in the protection or management of wrecks in English waters based on whether or not they are of UK origin.
	In England, the policy has long been for English Heritage to be granted powers to provide assistance in relation to archaeological sites which are situated below the mean low water mark. The National Heritage Act 2002 extended these powers with effect from 1 July 2002, and DCMS is in the process of drafting directions in consultation with the devolved heritage agencies and English Heritage.
	Formal transfer of responsibility is expected to take place shortly, which will mean that English Heritage will be able to perform the functions for underwater archaeology that they can for land-based archaeology, for instance giving grants, contributing towards the costs of research, and providing educational facilities and services, public information and advice, and entering into certain agreements.

TREASURY

Bio-ethanol Fuel

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from (a) British Sugar, (b) the National Farmers Union, (c) the Country Land and Business Association and (d) other groups on the level of duty on bioethanol road fuel.

John Healey: We have received a number of representations about the level of duty on bioethanol.

Business Support

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to devolve business support services to regions other than the north-west, east midlands and west midlands.

John Healey: The Government will consider the development of the RDA pilots before taking a decision on the general roll-out of RDA-led management and coordination of business support. However, outside the pilot areas, RDAs have been given additional funding and flexibilities which will enable them to work with SBS and other business support providers to improve the coherence and quality of services for small businesses. In the north-east, for example, the RDA has launched a new strategy to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the business support infrastructure.

Childcare Tax Credits

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the take-up rates were for child care tax credit in each year since it was introduced.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of such take-up rates would have to be based on household survey data. These surveys contain too few sample cases to produce reliable estimates.

Credit Unions

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask TheChancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to encourage the development of credit unions and community banking; and whether the Government has set targets for the development of credit unions and community banking.

Ruth Kelly: The Government believes that the availability of financial products is essential to ensure access to wider mainstream services and is an important component in tackling social exclusion. There are a number of ways in which access to financial services can be improved and providers each have a different contribution to make. The Government has not set targets for growth in particular sectors it is ultimately for consumers to decide which services are most appropriate for them.
	The Government is involved in a number of initiatives to increase the accessibility of financial services at a local or community level.
	We are in the process of delivering a programme of legislative and regulatory changes to help improve the operational flexibility of credit unions. Universal banking services, using the post office network, will build on and extend the accessibility of bank accounts to areas without bank branches or ATM machines. New Deal of Communities partnerships have developed or are planning projects to counter financial exclusion. These and similar projects typically involve co-operation between local government, local agencies, financial service providers or voluntary groups.

Credit Unions

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the trends in growth of credit unions and the community banking sector have been since (a) 1997 and (b) 1992.

Ruth Kelly: Information on the trends in growth of credit unions is set out in the table. Comprehensive data covering the different developments and initiatives in the provision of banking services at local or community levels is not centrally available.
	
		Credit Unions in Great Britain
		
			  Number of Credit Unions Number of members at end year Total assets (#000) 
		
		
			 1992 383 88,007 32,489 
			 1993 427 110,079 44,671 
			 1994 475 138,582 60,742 
			 1995 530 161,502 79,945 
			 1996 550 190,825 100,348 
			 1997 596 224,674 123,979 
			 1998 630 255,596 147,940 
			 1999 666 295,826 180,633 
			 2000 687 325,058 214,977

ECOFIN

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 3 December; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I attended the ECOFIN meeting on 3 December.ECOFIN discussed a Presidency proposal on the taxation of savings. The proposal confirmed the agreement at the Feira European Council that the ultimate objective of the EU should be exchange of information on as wide a basis as possible. And it confirmed the rejection at Feira of an EU-wide withholding tax, which would have had severe implications for the London bond market.
	ECOFIN discussed the Commission's negotiations with the third countries named in the Feira conclusions, and in particular the negotiations with Switzerland. The Presidency proposed that Switzerland should implement the OECD standard of exchange of information on request, and that the Commission should hold further discussions with them on this. The ultimate objective would be automatic exchange of
	information.
	Under the Presidency proposal, Switzerland would be required to apply a withholding tax until moving to automatic exchange of information. The rate would be 20 per cent. for the three years from 2004 and 35 per cent. thereafter. Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium would be required to apply a similar rate of withholding tax until Switzerland move to the OECD standard of exchange of information on request, at which point they would have to move to automatic exchange of information. Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium would have to apply the OECD standard of exchange on request from no later than 2011. The other 12 member states would apply automatic exchange of information from 2004 as agreed at the Feira European Council.
	I gave a report on our discussions with Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the overseas territories in the Caribbean. I made clear that automatic exchange of information would apply in all the territories.
	The Commission will hold further discussions with Switzerland, and the Presidency expect to hold a further meeting of ECOFIN later this month.
	The Paymaster General (in her capacity as Chair of the Code of Conduct Group) presented the Code of Conduct Group's report on the rollback of harmful tax measures. The Presidency indicated that the Group's report, along with the third component of the tax package, the directive on interest and royalties, would be considered at the additional ECOFIN meeting later this month.
	The Presidency invited Ministers to reach political agreement on the draft directive on energy taxation. As a number of other member states continued to have reservations with the text, the Presidency concluded that agreement was not possible at this stage and there would be a further discussion at the additional ECOFIN meeting later this month. The draft directive on VAT administrative co-operation will also be considered at the additional ECOFIN and I stressed that the UK was prepared to be constructive in reaching agreement on this. Ministers discussed a number of financial services issues. ECOFIN adopted conclusions on implementing streamlined legislative procedures (the so-called XLamfalussy model) across the financial services sector. There was a discussion on whether the new procedures should be implemented immediately or delayed pending further discussions with the European Parliament. The Presidency called a vote to decide this. There was a simple majority in favour of immediate implementation, which the UK supported.
	The Commission presented its proposal for a revised directive on investment services. I expressed UK disappointment at the Commission's late amendment to the text on pre-trade transparency. This change would be anti-competitive and would deliver a poor deal for the retail investor. I also stressed that late changes such as this, which flew in the face of consultation results, were likely to undermine market confidence in the consultation process and the Lamfalussy arrangements.
	Ministers noted Commission reports on corporate governance and progress on the Financial Services Action Plan and efficiency and integration indicators.
	ECOFIN noted the President of the European Court of Auditors presentation of the Court's annual report for 2001 and adopted conclusions on the streamlining of economic policy co-ordination processes and on the use of structural reform indicators.
	Under any other business, Commissioner Solbes gave an oral presentation on the Commission Communication on strengthening economic policy co-ordination, which Ministers noted.

Economic Tests

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the pre-Budget report November 2002 (Cm 5664) Box 2.3, what technical work needed to enable assessment of the five economic tests has been completed.

Ruth Kelly: As we set out in the 'Paper for the Treasury Select Committee on the Treasury's Approach to the Preliminary and Technical Work', issued on 6 September, XA number of supporting studies will be published encompassing the preliminary and technical work . . . When the assessment is complete, the detailed supporting studies will be published alongside, all to be subject to intensive public scrutiny and debate. More detail on the supporting studies is given in the 6 September paper.

Enterprise Areas

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the 2000 enterprise areas announced in the Pre-Budget Report fall within (a) Roxburgh and Berwickshire and (b) the Scottish Borders.

John Healey: The enterprise areas in Scotland are defined as the 15 per cent. most deprived areas as identified by the Scottish Index of Deprivation 1998. There are no areas within Roxburgh and Berwickshire or the Scottish Borders that fall into this category.
	However, other measures taken by the Government in the Pre-Budget Report will benefit businesses in these areas, including the announcement of the extension of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme to firms in the retail, catering and several other sectors from April 2003. The Scottish Executive will introduce on 1 April 2003 a tapering mandatory small business rate relief, worth in total around #45 million to qualifying businesses. The Scottish Executive will also be distributing the Small Business Service's start-up guide, which will bring together information on all Government requirements and support for SMEs in a single start-up pack by spring 2003.

Enterprise Areas

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of local government regarding the relaxation of requirements for detailed planning permission in enterprise areas announced in the Pre-Budget Report.

John Healey: The Pre-Budget report announced that the Government will consider how to encourage local authorities to introduce Local Development Orders to relax planning control in enterprise areas. The Government's proposals on LDOs were the subject of wide public consultation following the issue of the Government's Green Paper, XPlanning: Delivering a Fundamental Change (December 2001).

Firefighters

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the increase in the net value of firefighters' pensions which would result from a 1 per cent. increase in the current annual wage bill; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
	Responsibility for the Firefighters Pension Scheme rests with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 9 December 2002.

Infant Mortality

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the infant mortality rate in the families of members of the armed forces has been in each year since 1990.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Murrison, dated 10 December 2002
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on what the infant mortality rate was in the families of members of the armed forces in each year since 1990. (86216)
	The table below provides infant mortality rates where either the mother or father was recorded as being in the armed forces at registration. At the registration of births and deaths of children, information on the occupation is only collected for the father and the mother, not for other members of the family. Father's occupation is only collected for births that occur inside marriage and those outside marriage that are jointly registered by both parents. Information on mother's occupation is seldom provided.
	
		Infant mortality: numbers and rates where either the father or mother was recorded at death registration as being in the armed forces, England and Wales, 19902001
		
			  Number of deaths Rate(20) 
		
		
			 1990 79 6.4 
			 1991 70 5.9 
			 1992 73 5.8 
			 1993 46 4.1 
			 1994 43 4.1 
			 1995 41 3.9 
			 1996 50 5.3 
			 1997 53 6.2 
			 1998 45 5.3 
			 1999 34 4.2 
			 2000 26 3.3 
			 2001(21) 32 4.3 
		
	
	(20) Per 1,000 live births. Figures for live births are a 10 per cent. sample coded for mother's and father's occupation. Information on the father's occupation at birth is not collected for births outside marriage if the father does not attend the registration of the baby's birth. These births and any subsequent infant deaths are excluded from the figures, unless where information was provided that the mother was in the armed forces (8 deaths in 19902001).
	(21) Provisional.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Insurance

Andy King: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met representatives from the insurance industry to discuss the impact of the level of insurance premiums on the building and construction industries.

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of (a) the insurance industry and (b) business regarding the future of employers' liability insurance.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury is in regular contact with industry on a wide range of insurance matters. In the Pre-Budget Report, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor, announced that the Department for Work and Pensions would undertake a formal review of the operation of employers' liability compulsory insurance.

Insurance Premium Tax

Andy King: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was received from insurance premium tax (a) in the first year it was levied and (b) last year.

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the yield from taxing insurance premiums since 1997 in (a) cash and (b) real terms.

Ruth Kelly: Figures for receipts of insurance premium tax in cash terms are available in Table 2.1D of the Office for National Statistics publication, XFinancial Statistics.

Insurance Premium Tax

Andy King: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when he last reviewed insurance premium tax;
	(2)  what plans he has to (a) reduce and (b) cap insurance premium tax.

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effects of a reduction in insurance premium tax;
	(2)  whether the review of employers' liability insurance announced in the pre-budget report will consider the possibility of reducing insurance premium tax.

Ruth Kelly: As with all taxes, Insurance Premium Tax is kept under review and any changes are announced in the annual Budget.

Mental Health (Children)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Office for National Statistics will publish its report on children's mental health services.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from L. Cook to Mr. Paul Marsden, dated 10 December 2002
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the Office for National Statsistics (ONS) report on children's mental health services. (86467)
	In March 2000 ONS produced a report which presented the findings of a survey of the mental health of children and adolescents, aged 515, in Great Britain (Meltzer et al, 2000). The survey was carried out between January and May 1999. It was commissioned by the Department of Health, the Scottish Health Executive and the National Assembly for Wales.
	The first part of the report focused on the prevalence rates of mental disorders among young people. The second part showed the way in which children and adolescents with particular disorders vary from those without any disorder on a range of factors including their background, personal and familial characteristics, physical health, use of services and social functioning.
	In this context, children's mental health services included health, social, educational and voluntary care services which provided treatment and advice given to young people with mental health problems. In the ONS report, the data presented on the use of services come from parents' reports of who they went to seek help from if they thought their child had a significant mental health problem.
	Six months previously, in September 1999, the Audit Commission produced a report of their two-year national audit of the specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) provided by health authorities and trusts. (Audit Commission, 1999).
	References.
	Meltzer H, Gatward R, Goodman R  Ford T (2000) Mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain, London: The Stationery Office
	Audit Commission (1999) National ReportChildren in mind: child and adolescent mental health services

Modern Apprenticeship Taskforce

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) remit, (b) terms of reference and (c) guidance are for the new Modern Apprenticeship Taskforce.

John Healey: Working alongside DfES and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the new National Modern Apprenticeship Taskforce has been created to recommend effective and innovative ways of ensuring that modern apprenticeship programmes respond to the changing needs of employers and young people. It will generate greater employer engagement in Modern Apprenticeships and provide strategic oversight of the MA system. It will advise the Government and the LSC on forward strategy and support progress towards meeting the Government's target that, by 2004, 28 per cent. of 22 year olds will have participated in a Modern Apprenticeship.

Oil Prices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact on his projected GDP growth in 2003 and 2004 of an average oil price of (a) $30 in 2003 and 2004, (b) $40 in 2003 and $30 in 2004; and (c) $60 in 2003 and $40 in 2004.

John Healey: By raising production costs and so constraining supply, higher oil prices tend to depress GDP growth, simultaneously pushing up inflation and unemployment. The UK differs from most other major industrialised economies in that it is a small net exporter of oil. Potential GDP losses therefore may be partly offset by increased UK incomes deriving from North Sea production due to the improvement in the terms of trade.
	In practice, the overall economic effects from rising oil prices are difficult to estimate as they depend largely on second round impacts on wages and other prices, as well as movements in business and consumer confidence.

Pensions Review

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the review of pension contribution statistics by the National Statistician has been completed; what conclusions have been reached; and if he will place the full report in the Library.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from K. Dunnell to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 10 December 2002
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on the review of pension contribution statistics. I am replying in his absence.
	The review of pension contribution statistics by the National Statistician has been completed. The conclusions are set out in the review report, XReview of ONS Pensions Contributions Statistics, which was published on 10 October 2002 and may be found at the following web address: www.statistics.gov.uk/about/Consultation by theme/downloads/Pension Contribution Report.pdf, along with a statement from the National Statistician at: www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pens1002.pdf.
	An action plan taking forward the recommendations of the Review of ONS Pensions Statistics was published on 29 November and may be found at the following web address: www.statistics.gov.uk/about/Methodology by theme/downloads/pension review action plan.pdf along with a statement from the National Statistician at: www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pen1002.pdf.
	Copies of the report have also been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Planning Permission

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what safeguards he proposes to put in place to prevent inappropriate or low quality developments as a result of the relaxation of requirements for detailed planning permission in enterprise areas announced in the Pre-Budget Report.

Ruth Kelly: The Pre-Budget Report announced that the Government will consider how to encourage local authorities to introduce Local Development Orders (LDOs) to relax planning control in enterprise areas.
	The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill will provide that LDOs can only be introduced for the purpose of implementing policies in an adopted development plan document. They will be subject to the same public consultation as that development plan document. The Secretary of State may direct that a draft LDO be submitted to him for his approval, and may, in extreme circumstances, revoke an adopted LDO.

Poverty

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition the government uses of (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty as applicable to government policy; and what plans the government has to review the utility and appropriateness of definitions of poverty in respect of government policy.

Dawn Primarolo: For the purposes of the Public Service Agreement target to reduce the number of children living in low income households by a quarter by 200405 compared to 199899, the Government measure the number of children in households with an equivalised income below 60 per cent. of the contemporary median, as reported in XHouseholds Below Average Income. This is a measure of relative income distribution; statistics on absolute measures based on income thresholds fixed in real terms are also published, as is information on pensioners and working-age adults.
	Low income is central to poverty. But poverty is a complex multi-dimensional issue, related to many other aspects of people's livesincluding health, housing, the quality of the environment, and opportunities to learn. A broader set of indicators related to poverty and social exclusion, going beyond income, is published in the annual report XOpportunity for All.
	Looking further ahead, the Government are committed to finding a measure of child poverty that will both underpin effective policy-making and enable the public to gauge progress towards the long-term goal of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it within a generation. In April 2002 the Department for Work and Pensions launched a consultation exercise on measuring child poverty in the long-term. Preliminary conclusions are due to be published by spring 2003.

Poverty

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the use of a version of the budget standards model to define poverty; and what assessment he has made of the effect on poverty of the poorest households of change since 1977, using a budget standards model.

Dawn Primarolo: A wide range of research has been produced into what constitutes an Xadequate level of income for a family with children, following different budget standards models. However, there is no simple answer to the question of which level of incomes is adequate for all family types. Different research methods tend to make different assumptions and generate a range of estimates. It would be difficult to justify any one set of assumptions against another equally plausible set.
	Statistics based on relative and absolute low income going back to 1979 are published in XHouseholds Below Average Income.

Stamp Duty

Stephen O'Brien: To ask The Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total revenue from stamp duty was in each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: Stamp Duty revenues for each financial year since 199798 are given as follows:
	
		# million 
		
			 Year Stamp duty revenue 
		
		
			 199798 3455.2 
			 199899 4623.4 
			 19992000 6897.8 
			 200001 8164.6 
			 200102 7103.5

Stamp Duty

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the stamp duty thresholds were in each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: Stamp duty thresholds and rates for this period for the transfers of land, buildings and property, other than stocks and shares, are given in the table (the rate is nil for considerations up to #60,000):
	
		Percentage 
		
			 Commencing date Considerations exceeding #60,000, but not exceeding #250,000 Considerations exceeding #250,000, but not exceeding #500,000 Considerations exceeding #500,000 
		
		
			 16 March 1993 1 1 1 
			 8 July 1997 1 1 .5 2 
			 24 March 1998 1 2 3 
			 16 March 1999 1 2.5 3.5 
			 28 March 2000 1 3 4

Training and Management Courses

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what discussions officials from his Department have had with small businesses regarding expanding training and management courses; and if he will publish the research he has commissioned regarding a proposed expansion;
	(2)  what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of the banking industry concerning the University for Industry, and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The Government welcome a proposal from high street banks to provide leadership support for prospective and existing businesses by creating a virtual university for small businesses with ready access to information, advice, support and mentoring through the internet and more specialist training courses. The Government are currently in discussion with a number of banks to develop the detail, and will consult with small businesses as the proposal develops.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Area Cost Adjustment

Mark Todd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the evidence he employed to choose which areas he has placed within those entitled to area cost adjustment.

Christopher Leslie: A full methodology guide to the area cost adjustment has been published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website (www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/0304/acatech.pdf). A copy has also been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Asylum Seekers (Rough Sleeping)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements he has made for contact assessment outreach workers in the rough sleepers unit to record the number of destitute asylum seekers sleeping rough.

Barbara Roche: Contact and assessment teams funded by local authorities and the Homelessness Directorate already record details of anyone they encounter who is sleeping rough and this will include any destitute asylum seekers.

British-Irish Council

Llew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on matters discussed and decisions taken at the meeting of the British-Irish Council on 22 November; if he will place in the Library and on his Department's website copies of papers discussed at the Council; and if he will list the Council attendees.

Christopher Leslie: I refer my hon. Friend to the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 4 December 2002, Official Report, column 75W.

Emergency Planning

Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what responsibilities he has for emergency planning and the co-ordination of the work of emergency planning authorities; and how his exercise of such responsibilities in London differs from that in (a) England and (b) the UK.

Christopher Leslie: As my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itcham stated today, responsibility for the arrangements for co-ordinating the Government's response to major emergencies lies with him.
	My right. hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is represented on the three Cabinet Committees which my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itcham mentions and which my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Brightside chairs.
	As my right hon. Friend also stated, all Departments have a responsibility to plan, prepare, train and exercise for handling major incidents and emergencies that might occur within their field of responsibility. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is thus responsible for the following areas:
	fire policy and the central Government management and inspection of the fire service, which has a key role to play in emergency planning.
	the regional co-ordination unit and the Government offices of the regions. Government offices provide an important link between central Government and local government on a wide range of issues including emergency planning. Government offices also play a role in communication and co-ordination during any emergency.
	In addition, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, has specific responsibility for London resilience. As the capital city, the financial capital and the seat of Government, London is in a unique position, with unique requirements for emergency planning. A new strategic emergency planning regime for the capital, developed in response to the events of 11 September 2001, is headed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich with the Mayor of London as his deputy. This regime co-ordinates the emergency planning work of the London boroughs, transport operators, utilities, London NHS, the emergency services, other civil authorities in London and the business community.

Local Government Reform

Mike Wood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of his proposals for reform of local government on enhancing (a) accountability, (b) openness and (c) probity; and what additional powers and resources will be made available for investigating and addressing complaints and malpractice.

Christopher Leslie: Building on the reforms in the Local Government Act 2000, which have brought about new council constitutions and established a new ethical framework for local government, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is now implementing the next stage. As set out in our response to the Transport, Local Government and Regional Affairs Committee's report on the draft Local Government Bill, this Bill marks a key stage in the Government's commitment to giving all local authorities new freedoms and flexibilities.
	Already under way is a long-term evaluation study of new council constitutions and the new ethical framework, which will establish the extent to which the reforms achieve the sought-for improvements in local authority efficiency, accountability and transparency.
	As to additional measures for investigating and addressing complaints and malpractice, the Government intend in the new year to introduce regulations under the Local Government Act 2000 to provide for the handling by local standards committees of cases of alleged misconduct.

Mobile Phone Network

Mark Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will review his Best Practice guidelines on mobile phone network development to take account of the results of the Deloitte and Touche review of the mobile phone operators' compliance with the 10 commitments; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how he plans to monitor implementation of the Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development; and whether this will be separate from the monitoring of the phone operators' 10 commitments by Deloitte and Touche.

Tony McNulty: The XCode of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development was published on 11 November this year. The code contains guidance for operators and local authorities on the siting of mobile phone masts and base stations.
	The review by Deloitte and Touche, commissioned by the Federation of Electronics Industries (FEI), is a comprehensive assessment on the operators' 10 commitments. The review has not yet been completed; we expect it early next year. Once it has been received, we will then assess the need to review the guidance.

Pathfinder Projects

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was originally budgeted for each national pathfinder programme in (a) 200001 and (b) 200102; what funds budgeted for were not spent in each year; and whether they were carried forward.

Barbara Roche: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 November 2002, Official Report, column 118w.

Regional Government (Exmoor)

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the effect of regional government on Exmoor, with special reference to funding for the national park.

Christopher Leslie: The White Paper XYour Region, Your Choice (Cm 5511) makes it clear that elected assemblies will only be established in those English regions outside London which choose to have one. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently taking soundings about the level of interest in each region in having a referendum about establishing an elected assembly.
	The White Paper does not propose any changes in the current arrangements for funding National Park Authorities.
	Elected regional assemblies will have a responsibility to ensure that countryside, landscape, recreation and rural issues are addressed in their regional strategies (for example regional spatial strategies and regional cultural strategies). They will also be expected to 'rural proof' their activities.
	The White Paper invited views on the way in which regional stakeholders should be involved in the work of elected assemblies, and the Government will announce specific proposals in due course. National Park Authorities have been involved in this consultation.

Rent Restructuring

Iain Coleman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out the formula that (a) RSLs and (b) local authorities will need to implement as a minimum to reach the target rents set under his rent restructuring policy for (i) 200304, (ii) 200405 and (iii) 200506.

Tony McNulty: Rent restructuring in the social sector aims to produce a fairer and more coherent pattern of rents, while keeping rents affordable and well below market levels. We want social rents to reflect the size, condition and location of properties, as well as the level of local earnings relative to the national average to take account of affordability.
	These factors have been included in the following national rents formula, where weekly rent is equal to:
	70 per cent. average rent for the sector (LA or RSL) (county manual earnings/national average manual earnings) bedroom weight
	Plus
	30 per cent. average rent for the sector (property value/national average property value for the sector)
	The national rents formula is capped at a maximum level, varying according to the number of bedrooms. This will ensure rents do not rise to unreasonably high levels in high value areas.
	Registered social landlords and local authorities are being encouraged to start moving their rents towards the rents formula over a 10 year period from April 2002, in 10 roughly equal steps, while keeping annual rent changes within limits of RPI +  per cent.  #2 per week.

Showmen

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what support he will provide to local authorities for the provision of winter quarters for showmen.

Tony McNulty: There is no special provision for local authorities to provide accommodation for travelling showmen. If my hon. Friend the member for Chorley has particular concerns, perhaps he will write to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Student Houses

Andy Reed: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of student houses in multi-occupancy in Charnwood borough council.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate costs. However as part of their part of their housing investment programme returns, Charnwood reported having a total of 102 houses in multiple occupation on 1 April 2002.

Water Measurements (Wards)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those wards, grouped by counties and unitary wards or metropolitan authorities, in England and Wales whose boundaries contain estuaries, rivers and inland shore waters; what the percentage is of the area of each such ward that is comprised of water measured, where applicable, from the high water mark; and what effect such measurement has on the way in which population (a) density and (b) sparsity is measured for official statistical purposes.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 10 December 2002
	As National Statistician I am replying to your recent question on wards whose boundaries contain estuaries, rivers and inland shore waters. (85950)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) can provide the information requested on the percentage of the area of electoral wards/divisions and local authorities in England and Wales which comprise inland water. Information on the effect these measurements have on the population density is not available.
	ONS has recently received area measurements produced by the Ordnance Survey for Great Britain using their 1:10,000 scale 2001 BoundaryLine product (boundaries as at May 2001). Early next year, these measurements will be made available on the National Statistics website (www.statistics.gov.uk). However if the request is urgent, ONS is willing to provide an extract on CD-ROM which will list three measurements and the percentage of inland water for all electoral wards/divisions and local authorities in England and Wales. The three measurements will be:
	area to Mean High Water: defined as the total area of an administrative unit measured in hectares and includes all tracts of inland water; where the administrative area is bounded by tidal water it is measured to Mean High Water mark.
	area of inland water: defined as the surface area of inland water areas exceeding 1sq km within the area to Mean High Water, measured in hectares, within the administrative unit. Inland water includes features such as lakes and reservoirs; rivers, canals and streams are not included in this area measurement.
	land area: area to Mean High Water excluding area of inland water.
	Population density figures and land area measurements will be published as part of the 2001 Census Key Statistics during April 2003. The land area measurement has been used in accordance with the Eurostat directive.
	If a CD-Rom giving the above information is required, you should contact Alan Taylor at our Titchfield office on 01329 813536.
	There are no plans to provide population density figures based on other area measurements.

Westminster/Kensington and Chelsea (Support)

Karen Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much external financial support was given to (a) Westminster and (b) Kensington and Chelsea in each year since 1992, giving the percentage change in each case expressed in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms.

Nick Raynsford: The figures for the level of total external support and the percentage change in cash terms and real terms for Westminster in each year since 1992 are set out in the table.
	
		Westminster
		
			  Total external Percentage change  
			  support (#000) Cash terms Real terms 
		
		
			 199192 188,142   
			 199293 222,967 18.5 14.8 
			 199394 186,794 -16.2 -18.2 
			 199495 188,144 0.7 -0.6 
			 199596 193,729 3.0 0.1 
			 199697 190,100 -1.9 -4.9 
			 199798 194,241 2.2 -0.9 
			 199899 187,720 -3.4 -5.9 
			 19992000 192,738 2.7 0.2 
			 200001 194,839 1.1 -1.1 
			 200102 198,752 2.0 -0.1 
			 200203 205,117 3.2 0.7 
		
	
	The figures for the level of total external support and the percentage change in cash terms and real terms for Kensington and Chelsea in each year since 1992 are set out in the table.
	
		Kensington and Chelsea
		
			  Total external Percentage change  
			  support (#000) Cash terms Real terms 
		
		
			 199192 106,064   
			 199293 131,641 24.1 20.2 
			 199394 109,283 -17.0 -19.0 
			 199495 110,594 1.2 -0.1 
			 199596 109,602 -0.9 -3.6 
			 199697 109,063 -0.5 -3.6 
			 199798 108,858 -0.2 -3.2 
			 199899 107,887 -0.9 -3.5 
			 19992000 110,941 2.8 0.4 
			 200001 112,777 1.7 -0.5 
			 200102 117,917 4.6 2.4 
			 200203 122.280 3.7 1.2 
		
	
	Total external support consists of revenue support grant, redistributed national non-domestic rates, central support protection grant (in 19992000 and 200001), SSA reduction grant (between 199495 and 200001) and Inner London education grant (until 199495).
	The real terms percentage change figures are calculated using the HM Treasury GDP Deflator where 200102 equals 100.

Westminster/Kensington and Chelsea (Support)

Karen Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was granted from each source of support within his Department to (a) Westminster city council and (b) the Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, outside the revenue support grant, in each year since 1997.

Christopher Leslie: The available information on funding for local authorities provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for which figures were requested is given in the tables.
	The figures included in the tables exclude funding provided by the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the former Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions for areas of work that are now the responsibility of the Department for Transport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	
		Westminster city council -- #000
		
			  199697 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Revenue Funding
			 Central Support Protection Grant4,206 4,866   
			 SSA Reduction Grant 893  15,580 8,500 1,625   
			 Housing Revenue Account subsidy(22) 23,850 22,489 21,656 21,102 20,214 25,626 30,763 
			 Supporting People Grant  100 313 
			 Beacon Council Grant 21   
			 Total Revenue Funding (excluding Revenue Support Grant and redistributed business rates) 24,743 22,489 37,236 33,808 26,726 25,726 31,076 
			 
			 Capital Funding
			 Basic Credit Approvals Issued 12,196 2,761 4,910 5,681 22,188 12,612 15,148 
			 Capital Receipts Initiativehousing SCA(23)  2,039 6,618 7,176
			 Cash Incentive Scheme SCA(23) 975 1,029 644 40
			 Social Housing Grant 5,177 4,522 7,100 4,371 10,254 5,136 (24) 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund  749 1,123 
			 Street Wardens Grant  27 115 
			 Street Crime Wardens Grant   108 
			 Estate Action Grant(25)  9,001 5,860 2,301 2,687 3,817 1,785 
			 Rough Sleeping Grant513 757 1,628 1,860 
			 Priority Needs Order   66 
			 Bed and Breakfast Grant   2,443 
			 Homelessness Grant   70 
			 Local e-government Grant   525 
			 Total Capital Funding 18,348 19,352 25,132 20,083 35,886 23,968 23,241 
		
	
	(22) HRA Subsidy figures for 200102 and 200203 are estimates, as payments have yet to be completed.
	(23) SCA = Supplementary Credit Approvals
	(24) Social Housing Grant data for 2002/03 is currently unavailable.
	(25) 200203 Estate Action figure is the amount of funding agreed. To date Westminster have claimed #862,350.
	
		Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea -- #000
		
			  199697 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 Revenue funding  
			 Central Support Protection Grant1,121
			 SSA Reduction Grant 10,838 8,412 5,487 3,158
			 Housing Revenue Account subsidy(26) 40,063 38,247 35,313 33,453 30,987 46,011 19,410 
			 Supporting People Grant  95 268 
			 Beacon Council Grant 21   
			 Total Revenue Funding (excluding Revenue Support Grant and redistributed business rates) 50,901 46,659 40,800 37,732 31,009 46,106 19,678 
			 
			 Capital Funding
			 Basic Credit Approvals Issued 8,895 5,686 4,183 5,411 17,081 12,652 12,740 
			 Capital Receipts Initiativehousing SCA(27)  1,095 3,959 4,319
			 Cash Incentive Scheme SCA(27) 600 600 217 
			 Social Housing Grant 6,649 5,026 4,076 6,766 7,754 9,477 (28) 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund  540 811 
			 Estate Action Grant
			 Gypsy Sites Refurbishment Grant   517 
			 Rough Sleeping Grant371 208 208  
			 Priority Needs Order   37 
			 Bed and Breakfast Grant   1,377 
			 Homelessness Grant   168 
			 Local e-government Grant   200 
			 ISB Grant 39 126  
			 Total Capital Funding 16,144 12,407 12,435 16,867 25,082 23,003 15,849 
		
	
	(26) HRA Subsidy figures for 200102 and 200203 are estimates, as payments have vet to be completed.
	(27) SCA = Supplementary Credit Approvals.
	(28) Social Housing Grant data for 200203 is currently unavailable.

Youth Provision (Battersea)

Martin Linton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what housing assistance is available to young people resident in Battersea who have left care homes or foster parents (a) over the age of 16 and (b) over the age of 18.

Tony McNulty: Care leavers in Battersea can obtain housing assistance from the London borough council for Wandsworth. Help is available through the housing providers that work with Wandsworth, such as Shaftesbury Homes and Aruthusa, NACRO and the Wandsworth Independent Living Scheme. The council also offer specialist services for the black minority ethnic community, offenders and young parents. Care leavers wishing to access these services can do so by contacting their social worker or Wandsworth's homeless persons unit. Alternatively the Connexions service personal advisers help those leaving care who may become homeless in Wandsworth through working with voluntary organisations such as Grenfell, Threshold and Patchwork Housing. Advice on services which are available to young people between 16 and 18 years of age is best obtained by an individual setting out their detailed circumstances to the agencies listed.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Carlson v. Townsend

Terry Rooney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what action she has taken as a result of the judgment in the Court of Appeal in the case of Carlson v. Townsend.

Rosie Winterton: The implications of the judgment in Carlson v. Townsend was one of the issues considered by the Personal Injury Protocol Working Party as part of its comprehensive review of the protocol. The findings of the working party will be considered as part of the on-going process of monitoring the working of the protocol.

Equal Access Workshops

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when workshops to examine difficulties of equal access to legal services took place; what the (a) cost and (b) purpose of each workshop was; what minority ethnic organisations she consulted on the programme of these events; how many persons and what organisations have been represented at events; and what plans she has for further events in the next 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: Five Community Legal Service (CLS) Diversity Workshops have taken place. The target groups and the costs of the relevant workshops were as follows:
	
		
			 Workshop # 
		
		
			 Children and Young People 4,738.90 
			 People with Disabilities 3,668 
			 Minority Ethnic Groups 2,763.87 
			 Older People 616.58 
			 Women's issues 750 
		
	
	The purpose of the workshops was to see how access to legal help and advice could be improved for each of the five target groups. In particular the aim of the workshops was to assess the following issues as they specifically applied to the target group:
	the need for advice within the target group;
	the areas where advice was most likely to be sought, and why;
	the barriers to advice;
	the importance of knowing legal rights, and the impact and social consequences of not knowing those rights; and
	ideas for developing CLS partnership work for the target group in question.
	No minority ethnic organisations were consulted on the programme of the workshops.
	A list of the organisations and the total number of people who attended the events is shown in the following list.
	A decision has not yet been made about the number or nature of further events.
	List of attendees for CLS Diversity Workshops
	Children and Young People15 January 2002
	(21 external delegates)
	Child Poverty Action Group
	Shelter
	Federation of Independent Advice Centres
	Local Government Association
	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
	Youth Access
	The Law Society
	Connexions
	NACAB
	Children's Rights Alliance
	The Home Office
	National Children's Homes
	Race Equality Unit, DTI
	Children's Legal Centre
	Commission for Racial Equality
	National Youth Agency
	DFES
	Legal Aid Practitioners Group
	Family Law Association
	Law Centres Federation
	Harlow Young People's Information Centre
	People with Disabilities13 May 2002
	(24 external delegates)
	Disability Rights Commission
	Federation of Independent Advice Centres (2 delegates)
	Help the Aged
	Disability Unit
	NACAB (2 delegates)
	Bury and District Disabled Advisory Council
	Disability Information Services
	Law Centres Federation
	Garden Court North ChambersBar Council
	Advice Services Alliance
	Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
	Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)
	British Dyslexia Association
	Shelter
	Employment Services
	Disability Rights Commission
	British Council of Disabled People
	Dial UK
	LCD Disability Network
	MIND
	Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People
	Federation of Independent Advice Centres
	Minority Ethnic Groups17 September 2002
	(27 external delegates)
	Action for Integration and Tolerance
	Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council
	Lambeth Law Centre (3 delegates)
	South London Tamil Welfare Group
	Diversity Unit, LCD
	Iranian Association
	BT Ethnic Minority Network
	Somali Welfare and Development
	Commission for Racial Equality
	Federation of Independent Advice (2 delegates)
	Home Office
	Latin American Association
	Chinese Information and Advice Centre
	Halkevi Turkish Community (2 delegates)
	Connexions Service
	Cambridgeshire Travellers Initiative
	Asylum Aid
	Confederation of Indian Organisations
	University College, London
	Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
	Federation of Irish Societies
	Consumers' Association
	Ghana Welfare Association
	Older People29 November 2002
	(23 external delegates)
	Maturity Works
	Cruse Bereavement Care
	Department of Work and Pensions
	Neovenator
	Latin American Association
	Wise Owls
	Beth Johnson Foundation
	Better Government for Older People
	Thamesmead Law Centre
	Help the Aged
	NACAB
	ASRA Housing Association
	SADACCA Elderly Day Care Centre
	Action on Elder Abuse
	Scottish Older People Advisory Group
	Friends of the Elderly
	Department of Health
	Counsel and Care for the Elderly
	Association of Retired People over 50
	Jobcentre Plus
	Islington PCT
	Association of Greater London Older Women
	DTI
	Women's issues28 October 2002
	(13 external delegates)
	Rights of Women
	Fawcett Society
	Calderdale Well Woman Association
	Women's Link
	Awareness in Practice
	Equal Opportunities Commission (3 delegates)
	ADVANCE
	South Essex Rape and Incest Centre
	Domestic Violence Working Group
	National Domestic Violence Helpline
	Northern Ireland Women's Support Network

Local Boundaries (Wales)

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether the review of local government boundaries in Wales will report in December.

Yvette Cooper: This is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Medical Reports

Terry Rooney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Lord Chancellor will issue directions to regulate the use of agreed medical reports.

Rosie Winterton: My Department does not intend to regulate the use of agreed medical experts. The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), allows parties in civil proceedings to instruct a single joint expert. To regulate this further would incur unnecessary costs and defeat the objectives of the CPRto make civil disputes easier, quicker and cheaper to resolve.

Personal Injury

Terry Rooney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what monitoring has taken place on the Personal Injury Pre-action Protocol.

Rosie Winterton: To assess pre-action behaviour and the effect of the protocols, the Civil Justice Council and the Law Society jointly commissioned research by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the University of Westminster. The report, XMore Civil Justice?, which was published on 25 April 2002, focused on three specific areas of dispute: personal injury, clinical negligence and housing disrepair. The study found that in all three areas there was evidence of a culture change and better communication between opposing sides, which has increased the number of claims settling without going to court.
	The report included a number of recommendations that are being considered by the Personal Injury Working Party in the comprehensive review of the protocol that it is currently conducting.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Automated Credit Transfer

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department's plans to conduct a customer information campaign on the change to automated credit transfer payment will start; what form it will take; what its budget is; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The Department for Work and Pensions will be converting people to Direct Payment over a two-year period, with the first payments going into accounts from April 2003. A customer information campaign will support the conversion.
	We have already started to notify customers about the change to Direct Payment. The first invitation letters asking for account details started to go out to some Child Benefit customers at the end of October. We have also made information publicly available on the internet, through news releases to the media, and in articles aimed at advisers.
	Next year the information campaign will give even more customers the information they need to help them make the best choice for their circumstances. The main element of the campaign is direct mail and we will write to all customers who are currently paid their benefits and state pensions by paper based methods. This is to let them know how Direct Payment affects them, and what options are available to them. We will support the mailing with an advertising and information campaign using a range of publicity media.
	The detail of the campaign is still being developed, but a budget of up to #25 million is available for the campaign, spread over a three-year period (200203 to 200405).

Bereavement Benefits

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his policy towards claims for backpayments of bereavement benefits following the judgment given by the European Court of Human Rights on this subject on 11 June.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 9 December 2002
	Bereavement benefits were introduced from April 2001 and, for the first time, extend the help available to both men and women. For information on the judgment referred to, which concerns benefits which pre-date bereavement benefits, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Dumfries (Mr. Brown) on 27 November 2002, Official Report, column 320W.

Bereavement Benefits

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to extend the deadline for claiming bereavement payments; whether the change will be retrospective; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: We want bereaved people to claim and receive the help that they and their families are entitled to when they need itimmediately after the bereavement. Most people do; more than four fifths claim within four or five weeks of their loss. However, we acknowledge that not all bereaved people find it possible to claim as promptly as the current rules for the lump-sum Bereavement Payment require. We are therefore extending the time limit for claiming Bereavement Payment and aligning it with the period over which a person can receive Bereavement Allowancenamely 12 months. We see this as a sensible alteration that will simplify the scheme for everyone while remaining compatible with underlying benefit entitlement rules.
	We laid amending regulations on 24 October 2002, which will give effect to this change for claims in respect of deaths that occur on or after 1 April 2003.

Children's Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what benefits are available to children with mental health problems.

Maria Eagle: The term Xmental health problems covers a wide variety of symptoms. Where those symptoms impair a child's normal functioning to the extent that they amount to a severe mental disability, the child may be entitled to Disability Living Allowance 1 . The additional benefits which, subject to the normal entitlement conditions, are available to families with disabled children who qualify for Disability Living Allowance are shown in the table. The Family Fund Trust, which is funded by government, also provides grants to families of severely disabled children in order to ease the stress of their day-to-day life. Benefits available to families with children with a mental disability who qualify for Disability Living Allowance
	Disabled child's Disability Living Allowance component and rate
	Care component (all rates) and mobility component (all rates).
	Highest rate care component.
	Highest or middle rate care component.
	Higher rate mobility component.
	Additional benefits that may be available to families of severely disabled children
	Disabled child premium in income related benefits 2 , or disabled child tax credit in Disabled Person's Tax Credit or Working Families Tax Credit.
	Enhanced disability premium and the disabled child premium in income related benefits, or enhanced disability tax credit.
	Invalid Care Allowance 3
	Access to the Motability, XBlue Badge and Vehicle Excise Duty Exemption schemes.
	Notes:
	1 Children under 16 years of age with a mental disability can qualify for the care component and the lower rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance if they are so severely disabled that their need for attention, supervision or watching over by another person is substantially in excess of that normally required by children of their age. Those who qualify for the highest rate of the care component may also qualify for the higher rate of the mobility component if they exhibit extreme and unpredictable disruptive behaviour as the result of arrested or incomplete development of the brain.
	2 Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance (income related), Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
	3 Entitlement to Invalid Care Allowance can also give entitlement to the Carer Premium in income related benefits.

PRIME MINISTER

Lord Birt

Don Foster: To ask the Prime Minister when Lord Birt began working as an adviser to the Prime Minister on transport issues; when this role is due to end; and what the expected (a) date and (b) nature of the outcome of his work are.

Tony Blair: Lord Birt was appointed in October 2001 as my unpaid strategy adviser for a period of up to three years. The nature of Lord Birt's work is to provide private internal advice to me and other Cabinet Ministers on a range of issues. This advice is not disclosed under Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to government Information.

Catherine Meyer

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister when he sent the letter to the Chancellor of Germany concerning the case of Catherine Meyer; and when the reply was received.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him in the House on Monday 28 October, Official Report, column 554 and the answer I gave him on Monday 25 November, Official Report, column 20W,

HEALTH

A and E

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) role and (b) grade is of Mr. Richard Woodfield within the Medicines Control Agency; and what assessment he has made of the performance of Mr. Woodfield in relation to the specialist natural health retail sector.

Hazel Blears: Mr. Richard Woodfield is a senior civil servant employed by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA). He is the group manager with responsibility for regulatory policy on herbal medicines and management of the MCA's European support unit. I am not prepared to provide any further personal information about Mr. Woodfield.

Acute Hospitals

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients died while waiting on ambulance trolleys at acute hospitals in the past 12 months.

David Lammy: This information is not collected centrally. However, we have not been made aware of any deaths attributable to waiting times in ambulances at accident and emergency departments.

Adverse Events

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on current research into adverse events in hospitals.

David Lammy: As set out in the report, XAn Organisation with a Memory, international research demonstrates that significant numbers of adverse events occur in healthcare systems across the world.
	In the United Kingdom, the Department has commissioned a programme of research into patient safety, which seeks to build upon and complement international work in this area. The programme is led by Professor Richard Lilford at the University of Birmingham. Work already completed includes systematic reviews of existing international research and examining the nature of errors in primary care. A number of studies are currently under way looking at obstetric injury, errors in accident and emergency units and the operating theatre, and errors resulting in litigation. Professor Lilford is working closely with the National Patient Safety Agency. Further information is available from the University of Birmingham patient safety research programme website at www.publichealth.bham.ac.uk/psrp.

Adverse Events

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of NHS patients affected by adverse events in British hospitals in the last 12 months.

David Lammy: At the present time, we do not know what proportion of national health service patients are affected by adverse events in British hospitals. However, as reported in XAn Organisation with a Memory, a report of an expert group on learning from adverse events chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, it is estimated that errors may occur in 10 per cent. of hospital admissions. This is in line with research carried out in other countries including New Zealand, Canada and Denmark.
	The Government established the National Patient Safety Agency in July 2001 to improve the safety of NHS patient care by promoting an open and fair culture and by introducing a national reporting and learning system for adverse events. It is planned for the reporting and learning system to be rolled out across the NHS from summer 2003. The system will, in time, enable us to understand the true nature and extent of adverse events in the NHS and prevent them being repeated.

Ambulance Staff

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the turnover rate for ambulance staff is, broken down by trust area.

John Hutton: Information on ambulance staff turnover is not collected centrally.

Ambulance Staff (Vacancies)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there are for (a) paramedics and (b) ambulance staff, broken down by NHS trust area.

John Hutton: Separate information for paramedic vacancies is not collected centrally. Information for all ambulance staff is shown in the table.
	Between March 2001 and March 2002 the three month vacancy rate for ambulance staff fell from 1.4 per cent., to 0.5 per cent.
	
		Department of Health Vacancies Survey, March 2002ambulance staff vacancies in NHS trusts, by DHSC and NHS trustthree month vacancy rates, numbers and staff in post
		
			  Ambulance staff (excluding HA staff)  
			  Three month vacancy rate (percentage) Three month vacancy number Staff in post (whole-time equivalent) Staff in post (headcount) 
		
		
			 England (excluding HA staff) 0.5 90 16,320 16,920 
			   
			 Midlands and Eastern 0.9 40 4,850 5,060 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service NHS Trust 2.4 10 470 480 
			 East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust 0.0 0 810 890 
			 East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 900 910 
			 Essex Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 640 720 
			 Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service NHS Trust 11.8 30 220 220 
			 Lincolnshire Ambulance and Health Transport Services NHS Trust 0.0 0 410 410 
			 Shropshire's Community and Mental Health Services NHS Trust 0.0 0 190 190 
			 Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 260 270 
			 Warwickshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 290 290 
			 West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 670 670 
			  
			 London 0.0 0 2,310 2,330 
			 Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust 0.0 0 20 20 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 2,280 2,300 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 0.0 0 10 10 
			 Parkside Health NHS Trust (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			  
			 Northern 0.3 20 4,560 4,810 
			 Christie Hospital NHS Trust (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 Cumbria Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 230 260 
			 Greater Manchester Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 730 740 
			 Lancashire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.2 0 580 620 
			 Mersey Regional Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 560 560 
			 North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2.5 20 580 590 
			 North Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 North Tyneside PCT (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 South Manchester PCT (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance and Paramedic Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 420 450 
			 Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 580 590 
			 West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 870 1,010 
			  
			 Southern 0.5 30 4,600 4,720 
			 Avon Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 320 340 
			 Cornwall Healthcare NHS Trust (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 Dorset Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 230 230 
			 Gloucestershire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2.9 10 210 210 
			 Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2.8 10 390 400 
			 Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust 0.0 0 60 60 
			 Kent Ambulance NHS Trust 0.8 10 610 650 
			 Oxfordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 130 140 
			 Royal Berkshire Ambulance NHS Trust (30) (30) 280 290 
			 South Devon Health Care NHS Trust (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 Surrey and Hampshire Borders NHS Trust (29) (29) (29) (29) 
			 Surrey Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 340 350 
			 Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 670 680 
			 Two Shires Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 340 340 
			 West Country Ambulance Service NSH Trust 0.4 0 820 820 
			 Wiltshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0.0 0 200 210 
		
	
	(29) Figures where sum of staff in post and vacancies is less than 10.
	(30) Did not receive a return
	Key notes:
	1. Three month vacancy information is at 31 March 2002.
	2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole time equivalents).
	3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
	4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Vacancy Survey, March 2002.
	5. Staff in post data are from the Non-Medical Workforce Census, September 2001.
	6. Staff in post data exclude staff employed by health authorities, as vacancy information was only collected from trusts, PCTs and special health authorities.
	7. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
	8. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
	Other notes:
	9. Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of component parts.
	10. Due to rounding, calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates.
	11. Figures may not match previously published data due to a different method of rounding used on the staff in post data.
	12. Only those NHS trusts employing ambulance staff are listed.
	Sources:
	Vacancy numbers and rates: Department of Health Vacancies Survey March 2002
	Non-medical staff in post: Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce census September 2001

Broadband Connectivity

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide pharmacies with broadband connectivity; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: There are no specific plans to provide broadband connectivity to pharmacies. Hospital pharmacies will have access to the broadband networking arrangements for hospitals being put in place as part of the national health service modernisation programme. Community pharmacists are of course part of the NHS Xfamily, but apart from those participating in the electronic transfer of prescriptions pilots do not make use of the national NHS network.
	The broadband networking plans set out in the Government's X21st century IT strategy document focus on the needs of NHS trusts and general practitioner practices. As stated in the strategy document, it is anticipated that the trials will continue to grow and involve a sizeable number of GPs and pharmacists with a natural migration into rollout. This project will create greater connectivity to NHSnet for pharmacists allowing the access to the benefits that this service provides. We will review the need for broadband access to pharmacies as the strategy develops.

Child Dental Health

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children with tooth cavities in (a) Lancashire and (b) the north-west of England; in each of the previous five years.

David Lammy: The British association for the study of community dentistry (BASCD) carries out surveys to monitor the dental caries experience of five, 21 and 14-year-old children. The survey of five-year-olds is carried out every second year and the surveys of 12 and 14-year-olds are carried out every four years.
	The number of children with tooth cavities for five, 12 and 14-year-old children by health authority in Lancashire is shown in table 1 for the years 199596 to 200001 and for the north-west region in table 2. The percentages of children with dental caries are taken from the BASCD survey results and the number of children with caries are estimated by applying these percentages to estimates of the total population of these children.
	
		Table 1: Number and percentage of children with tooth cavities in Lancashire 199596 to 200001Lancashire health authorities
		
			  Five-years-old 12-years-old 14-years-old 
			 Health authority area Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 199596   
			 East Lancashire 3,900 55 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 Morecambe Bay 1,800 49 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 North-west Lancashire 2,500 48 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 South Lancashire 1,800 45 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 Total 10,000 50 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			  
			 199697   
			 East Lancashire (31) (31) 2,700 38 (31) (31) 
			 Morecambe Bay (31) (31) 900 23 (31) (31) 
			 North-west Lancashire (31) (31) 1,300 25 (31) (31) 
			 South Lancashire (31) (31) 1,500 37 (31) (31) 
			 Total (31) (31) 6,400 32 (31) (31) 
			  
			 199798   
			 East Lancashire 4,000 52 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 Morecambe Bay 1,900 48 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 North-west Lancashire 2,800 47 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 South Lancashire 1,700 43 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 Total 10,400 48 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			  
			 199899   
			 East Lancashire (31) (31) (31) (31) 3,200 45 
			 Morecambe Bay (31) (31) (31) (31) 1,000 26 
			 North-west Lancashire (31) (31) (31) (31) 2,200 41 
			 South Lancashire (31) (31) (31) (31) 1,900 47 
			 Total (31) (31) (31) (31) 8,300 41 
			  
			 19992000   
			 East Lancashire 3,600 50 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 Morecambe Bay 1,600 42 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 North-west Lancashire 2,700 49 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 South Lancashire 1,700 44 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			 Total 9,500 47 (31) (31) (31) (31) 
			  
			 200001   
			 East Lancashire (31) (31) 2,600 35 (31) (31) 
			 Morecambe Bay (31) (31) 800 20 (31) (31) 
			 North-west Lancashire (31) (31) 2,100 35 (31) (31) 
			 South Lancashire (31) (31) 1,700 37 (31) (31) 
			 Total (31) (31) 7,200 33 (31) (31) 
		
	
	(31) Data not collected by BASCD for this age group for this year.
	
		Table 2: Number and percentage of children with tooth cavities in the north-west region 199596 to 200001north-west region
		
			  Five-years-old 12-years-old 14-years-old  
			  Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 199596 42,300 50 (32) (32) (32) (32) 
			 199697 (32) (32) 27,400 32 (32) (32) 
			 199798 41,800 46 (32) (32) (32) (32) 
			 199899 (32) (32) (32) (32) 31,400 37 
			 19992000 39,100 46 (32) (32) (32) (32) 
			 200001 (32) (32) 28,500 31 (32) (32) 
		
	
	(32) Data not collected by BASCD for this age group for this year

Computers

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance the NHS gives to trusts about the replacement time for computer equipment.

Hazel Blears: No general guidance is given. The replacement of computer equipment will be decided by individual national health service organisations depending on local circumstances.

Congenital Malformation Database

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been conducted into the United Kingdom congenital malformation database since it was established.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from L. Cook to Mr. L. Smith, dated 10 December 2002
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on what research has been conducted into the United Kingdom congenital anomaly database since it was established. (84256)
	The National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) was set up in 1964 and only monitors congenital anomalies in England and Wales. Reporting to the system is voluntary and only live births and stillbirths are included. A number of articles and papers have been written using data from NCAS and on the quality of the data held on NCAS. Listed below are the articles using national data of which ONS are aware.
	Research using the National Congenital Anomaly System:
	Botting BJ. Limb reduction defects and coastal areas. Letter. Lancet, 1994; 343: 10331034.
	Botting B, Rosato M, Wood R. Teenage mothers and the health of their children. Popul Trends. 1998 Autumn;(93): 1928
	Busby A, Dolk H, Collin R, Barry Jones R, Winter R. Compiling a national register of babies born with anophthalmia/ micropthalmia in England 198894. Arch Dis Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed 1998;79:F168173
	Doyle PE, Beral V, Botting B, Wale CJ. Congenital malformations in twins in England and Wales. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1991;45(1):438.
	Gilbert R. Clusters of anophthalmia in Britain. Difficult to implicate Benomyl on current evidence. BMJ 1993;307:340341.
	Mastroiacovo P, Castilla E, Arpino C, Botting B, Cocchi G, Goujard J, Marinacci C, Merlob P, Metneki J, Mutchinick O, Ritvanenen A, Rosano A. Congenital malformations in twins: an international study. Am J Med Genet 1999;83:117124
	Morris JK, Wald NJ. Quantifying the decline in the birth prevalence of neural tube defects in England and Wales. Journal of Medical Screening, 1999 6; 4:182185
	Murphy M, Seagroatt V, Hey K et al. Neural tube defects 197494 down but not out. Arch Dis Child 1996; 75: F133-F134
	Office for National Statistics. Congenital anomaly statistics Series MBS . London: The Stationery Office
	Office for National Statistics. Health Statistics Quarterly no 4. Annual update: congenital anomaly statistics 1998 London: The Stationery Office, 1999
	Office for National Statistics. Health Statistics Quarterly no 8. Annual update: congenital anomaly statistics 1999 London: The Stationery Office, 2000
	Office for National Statistics. Health Statistics Quarterly no 12. Annual update: congenital anomaly statistics 2000 London: The Stationery Office, 2001
	Office for National Statistics. Health Statistics Quarterly no 16. Annual update: congenital anomaly statistics 2001 London: The Stationery Office, 2002
	Rogers SC, Weatherall JAC, OPCS, Anencephalus, spina bifida and congenital hydrocephalus. England and Wales 19641972. Studies on medical and population subjects. No 32 London: HMSO 1976:
	Rosano A, Smithells D, Cacciani L, Botting B, Castilla E, Cornel M, Erickson D, Goujard J,
	Irgens L, Merlob P, Robert E, Siffel C, Stoll C, Sumiyoshi Y. Time trends in neural tube defects prevalence in relation to preventive strategies: an international study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1999 Oct;53(10):6305
	Smeeton NC, Rona RJ, Sharland G, Botting BJ, Barnett A, Dundas R. Estimating the prevalence of malformation of the heart in the first year of life using capture-recapture methods. Am J Epidemiol, 1999; 150 (7):778785
	Swerdlow AJ, Melzer D. The value of England and Wales congenital malformation notification scheme data for epidemiology: male genital tract malformations. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1988; 42(1):813.
	Tan KH, Kilby MD. Whittle MJ, Beattie BR, Booth IW, Botting BJ. Congenital anterior abdominal wall defects in England and Wales 198793: retrospective analysis of OPCS data. BMJ. 1996 Oct 12;313(7062):9036.
	Research into the quality of data on the National Congenital Anomaly System:
	Alberman E, Botting B. Recommendations for improving national data on congenital anomalies are being implemented. BMJ. 1997 Apr 26;314(7089):1278
	Botting B. The impact of more complete data from Wales on the National Congenital Anomaly system. Health Statistics Quarterly 2000; 5: 79.
	Botting B. Improving the completeness of Down syndrome notification. Health Statistics Quarterly, 2000a ; 6: 1417
	Busby A, Dolk H, Collin R, Barry Jones R, Winter R. Compiling a national register of babies born with anophthalmia/micropthalmia in England 198894. Arch Dis Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed 1998;79:F168173
	Coleridge HL. The National Congenital Anomaly System-why it needs midwives' support. RCM Midwives J. 2002;5(5): 1889
	Cuckle H, Nanchahal K, Wald N. Birth prevalence of Down's syndrome in England and Wales. Prenatal Diagnosis 1991; 11: 2934.
	Dutton SJ, Owens JR, Harris F. Ascertainment of congenital malformations: a comparative study of two systems. J Epidemiol Community Health 1991; 45: 294298.
	Hey K, O'Donnell M, Murphy M, Jones N, Botting B, use of local neural tube defect registers to interpret national trends. Archives of disease in childhood. 1994; 71: F198-F202
	Hill GB, Spicer CC Weatherall JAC The computer surveillance of congenital malformations. Br Med Bull 1968; 24 (3) :215218
	Huang T, Wall HC, Wald NJ, Morris JK, Mutton D, Alberman E. Reliability of statistics on Down's syndrome notifications. Journal of Medical Screening 1997; 4:9597.
	Knox EG, Armstrong EH, Lancashire R. The quality of notification of congenital malformations. J Epidemiol Community Health 1984; 38: 296305.
	Knox EG, Lancashire R. Epidemiology of congenital malformations. London: HMSO,1991.
	Morris JK, Wald NJ. Quantifying the decline in the birth prevalence of neural tube defects in England and Wales. Journal of Medical Screening, 1999 6; 4:182185
	Murphy M, Seagroatt V, Hey K el al. Neural tube defects 197494 down but not out Arch Dis Child 1996; 75: F133-F134
	OPCS The OPCS Monitoring Scheme for Congenital MalformationsOccasional Paper 43- A review by a Working Group of the Registrar General's Medical Advisory Committee. London: OPCS 1995
	Payne JN. Limitations of the OPCS congenital malformation notification systems illustrated by examination of congenital malformations of the cardiovascular systems in districts within the Trent region. Public Health 1992; 106: 437448.
	Rahi JS, Botting B. Ascertainment of children with congenital cataract through the National Congenital Anomaly System in England and Wales. Br J Ophthalmol. 2001 Sep;85(9): 104951.
	Smeeton NC, Rona RJ, Sharland G, Botting BJ, Barnett A, Dundas R. Estimating the prevalence of malformation of the heart in the first year of life using capture-recapture methods. Am J Epidemiol, 1999; 150 (7): 778785
	Swerdlow AJ, Melzer D. The value of England and Wales congenital malformation notification scheme data for epidemiology: male genital tract malformations. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1988; 42(1): 813.
	Weatherall JAC. An assessment of the efficiency of notification of congenital malformations. The Medical Officer, 1969; 121:6568
	Weatherall JAC. Congenital malformations, surveillance and reporting. Population Trends 11, 1978, 2729

Consultants' Contract (Press Releases)

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library copies of press releases made by his Department regarding slide 9 of the XA New Consultant ContractThe Framework for Agreement presentation given by Mr.Andrew Foster, Director of Human Resources for the national health service.

John Hutton: The Department has not issued any press release regarding any aspect of the presentation given by Mr. Andrew Foster, national health service director of human resources.

Correspondence

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, dated 11 June and 24 July 2002 , concerning new prescription policing arrangements.

David Lammy: holding answer 25 November 2002
	A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 26 November 2002.

Correspondence

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for his Department to improve the response rate to letters to hon. Members on behalf of their constituents.

David Lammy: holding answer 25 November 2002
	A customer service project has been set up under the Department's change programme. The aim of this project is to significantly improve the Department's performance in handling telephone, written and e-mail inquiries from members of the public and their representatives, and to maximise the potential of the Department's website and other forms of communication media.

Correspondence

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many replies remain outstanding to letters from hon. Members which were sent by them before 3 December 2001.

David Lammy: None.

Correspondence

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to reply to the letter of Ronnie Cairnduff of Hampshire Care dated 31 July.

David Lammy: The Department is unable to locate a copy of Mr. Cairnduff's correspondence and the Customer Service Unit apologises for this and is seeking a copy of this correspondence.

Correspondence

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the reasons for the 17 month delay in responding to a letter from the hon. Member for Totnes dated 27 June 2001 concerning Mrs. Alyson Bellenes of Marldon, Devon and St. John's Wort.

David Lammy: Firstly, I apologise for the unacceptable delay in replying to the hon. Member's correspondence. Unfortunately, the Department did not receive the original correspondence but did receive the copy the hon. Member forwarded on 21 November. The delay was caused by administration difficulties within the Department.
	To prevent this kind of delay from reoccurring the Department has introduced a new correspondence tracking system designed to track correspondence throughout the Department via the electronic mailing system. A customer service project has been set up under the Department's change programme with the following objectives:
	to improve significantly the Department's performance in handling telephone, written and e-mail inquiries from members of the public and their representatives.
	to maximise the potential of the Department's website and the other forms of communication media as a source of information to the public.
	The project will give further impetus to improving performance in the timeliness and quality of responses to correspondence.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the honourable Member for Walsall North will receive a reply to his letter of 22 October regarding a constituent, Departmental Ref PO1018138.

John Hutton: holding answer 9 December 2002
	A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 5 December.

Correspondence

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will answer the letter of 5 September to him from the hon. Member for Beaconsfield concerning Mr. and Mrs. C. Brewster.

Jacqui Smith: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 9 December.

Delayed Admissions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the total cost to NHS ambulance trusts of delayed admissions to accident and emergency departments in the last 12 months.

David Lammy: None.

Delayed Ambulance Transfers

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on delayed transfers from ambulances to accident and emergency departments.

David Lammy: We have received no formal representations but are aware of local concerns about delayed transfers from ambulances into accident and emergency departments. Normally any such problems are resolved locally through dialogue between the hospital, ambulance service and any other interested parties.

Delayed Discharges

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the #100 million for social services that is being taken from NHS budgets will be ring-fenced for tackling delayed discharge.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 4 December 2002
	A decision on how the funding will be allocated has not yet been made. Details will be announced as soon as possible.

Dental Treatment

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to make periodontal treatment available on the NHS in all dental practices;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that the full range of dentistry treatment is available on the NHS.

David Lammy: Under their national health service terms of service general dental practitioners have a duty to provide for their registered patients all treatment that is necessary to secure and maintain oral health. The statement of dental remuneration, which includes fees for surgical and non-surgical periodontal treatments, lists most of the treatments that are available on the NHS.

Dentistry

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the provision of dentistry treatment on the NHS; and how many dentists in each PCT are (a) practising, (b) offering the full range of treatment on the NHS and (c) able to take on new patients on the NHS.

David Lammy: The number of general dental service (GDS) dentists in each primary care trust (PCT) in England at 30 June 2002 is contained in the table that has been placed in the Library. Dentists practising in more than one PCT are counted in each PCT in which they practice.
	Information about dentists in other national health service services, for example community dental service, personal dental service, hospital dental service is not yet available by PCT.
	GDS dentists are required to provide a full range of NHS treatment to maintain the oral health of the patients that are registered with them for capitation (children) or continuing care (adults).
	Details of the GDP that are currently accepting new patient registrations is monitored by PCTs locally and is not centrally available. Patients wishing to register with a dentist can obtain details of GDS dentists registering new patients in their area by telephoning NHS Direct or their local PCT.

Depo Provera

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from general practitioners about the adequacy of supplies of depo provera injectable contraceptive; and what action he has taken as a result.

Hazel Blears: We have received representations from a number of health professionals, including general practitioners, about the current shortage of the injectable contraceptive depo-provera which has been caused by production problems. Departmental officials have been in regular contact with the manufacturer of this product to assist rapid action to alleviate the shortage and are aware that limited stocks are now available. Normal supplies of this product are expected to be available from 16 December.

Diabetes

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish the National Service Framework for Diabetes.

David Lammy: We shall be publishing the delivery strategy for the diabetes national service framework in the next few weeks.

Digital Television

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the value of the use of digital television in the modernisation of the NHS.

David Lammy: The Department, working with commercial partners from the media and broadcasting industries, has recently run four pilot projects exploring health applications of digital interactive television. The different projects were chosen to explore a variety of different types of digital television service and different digital TV platforms. Information was broadcast on health conditions, healthy living and local health services using text-based material, video-on-demand and a mixture of scheduled programmes and text-based information. A range of transactional services such as booking appointments with general practitioners was also explored.
	Following the completion of these pilot projects, a programme of work will begin to develop a version of NHS Direct for digital TV and to make it available nationwide. Working with commercial partners, the Department and the NHS will develop a service that will enable people to have easy and fast access at home to trusted information and advice on health, health care and the NHS. Such a service will complement the already very successful NHS Direct telephone helpline and the NHS Direct online website. The Department will also continue to explore the more transactional uses of digital TV.
	The process of selecting commercial partners will begin early in the new year with the Department issuing an invitation to tender to develop and run an NHS Direct information service on digital TV. The Department's intention is, in time, to provide this service across all digital TV platforms.

Emergency Admissions Policy

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on admissions from ambulances to accident and emergency departments.

David Lammy: Patients who arrive at accident and emergency departments (AE) by ambulance should be transferred in to AE as soon as is practical and in patients' best interests.

Emergency Services

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on linkage between emergency ambulance services and the fire services.

David Lammy: Pre-hospital patient care remains an integral part of the health care system. The Government support the sharing of facilities and other joint working between ambulance and fire services if it is practical and mutually beneficial.

Epilepsy

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what submissions his Department has received from organisations representing epilepsy (a) patients, (b) carers and (c) service providers as part of its review of commissioning arrangements for specialised services.

John Hutton: The majority of epilepsy services are provided in a primary or secondary care setting and are not specialised services; consequently they are not within the remit of this review. There have been no specific submissions to the review from organisations solely representing epilepsy patients, carers or service providers. There have been submissions from the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales, the College of Health and London Health Link.

Epilepsy

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how and to what extent the views and opinions of epilepsy patients and their carers are being taken into account as part of the review of commissioning specialised services.

John Hutton: The review is considering the commissioning arrangements for specialised services in general, it is not looking at any one particular specialised service. The majority of epilepsy services are provided in a primary or secondary setting and, as such, are not tertiary services; consequently they are not within the remit of this review.

Firefighters

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the length of training required to train firefighters to fulfil paramedic responsibilities.

David Lammy: There have been no discussions on this subject between the Department and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Firefighters

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what contribution his Department made to the Bain report, with special reference to firefighters taking on paramedic duties;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister about the possibility of using firefighters as paramedics.

David Lammy: Sir George Bain's review is independent and I understand that he is still in the process of developing and refining his final proposals. Pre-hospital patient care is an integral part of the health care system, but firefighters can assist ambulance services by providing basic life support and defibrillation if that provides a faster response to life-threatening emergencies. This does not require the same level of training as that undergone by ambulance service paramedics.

Five-a-day Initiative

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where the pilot schemes for the five-a-day initiative took place.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The pilot schemes for the five-a-day local community initiatives were in Airedale and Craven, County Durham, Hastings, Sandwell and Somerset.

Foundation Hospitals

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Sunderland and Homerton NHS trusts will be granted foundation status.

John Hutton: holding answer 9 December 2002
	Applications to become national health service foundation trusts will be invited from acute and specialist NHS trusts that were awarded three stars in the performance ratings announced in July 2002. City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust and Homerton University Hospitals NHS Trusts are eligible to apply.
	We will shortly issue a publication that will set out our detailed proposals on establishing NHS foundation trusts. Alongside this, or shortly after publication, we will invite applications to become NHS foundation trusts.

General Practitioners (Age)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors were seeking locum work (a) in May 1997 and (b) at the latest available date in (i) North Yorkshire, (ii) York and (iii) England.

John Hutton: The information requested is not currently available. Information on locum doctors working in the hospital, community health service and public health service (HCHS) sectors on 30 September 2002 is currently being analysed and validated and should allow us to show how many locum doctors were working on that date. This information should be available in the new year. However it will not show how many locum doctors in that sector were available for or seeking locum work.
	Supplementary lists, compiled by primary care trusts, should allow us to estimate the number of general practitioners seeking work in specified areas. The data is currently being validated and should be available in the new year.

Herbal Remedies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce simplified registration schemes for herbal remedies under the provisions of the amendments made by the European Parliament to the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive.

Hazel Blears: If the proposed Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products is agreed we would plan to introduce a regulatory scheme for traditional herbal remedies, as would be required under the current proposals. If the scope of the Directive is extended to give member states flexibility to introduce or retain simplified registration arrangements for other categories of traditional medicines we would in principle be open to the use of such flexibility. We would intend to have more detailed discussions with interested parties on this latter issue when the prospects for the amendment proposed by the European Parliament become clearer.

Herbal Remedies

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government are doing to regulate herbal remedies that they estimate could endanger people's health if taken in large enough quantities.

Hazel Blears: Potentially any herbal remedy could put health at risk if taken in sufficient quantity. The proposed Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products is under negotiation in Europe. The current proposals would ensure that traditional herbal remedies registered under the scheme were accompanied by systematic information about dosage and other information relating to the safe use of the product. This contrasts with the current position for unlicensed remedies under Section 12(2) of the Medicines Act 1968 where there are no such specific requirements for information to be given.

HFEA Consultation

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason respondents to the questionnaire on the HFEA's consultation document, XSex Selection: Choice and responsibility in human reproduction are asked to identify themselves as Xpro life.

Hazel Blears: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority gave organisations responding to its consultation on sex selection the opportunity to identify themselves as Xpro life because it is particularly interested in whether such groups would condone sex selection techniques, such as sperm sorting, that do not involve the destruction of embryos.

Hospitals (Hotel Charges)

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on hotel charges for hospital services;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on charging patients for hospital food; and which hospitals charge patients for meals on the ward.

David Lammy: The Government have no plans to introduce Xhotel charges including charges for food in national health service hospitals.

Human Genetics Commission

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the procedures are for (a) appointing (i) members and (ii) chairpersons of working groups for the HGC and (b) addressing potential conflicts of interest among HGC working group members and chairpersons.

Hazel Blears: The Human Genetics Commission (HGC) establishes working groups and sub-groups in the manner that it sees fit to conduct its work. The precise discussions leading to the creation of groups are a matter of public record and can be found in the minutes of HGC and its business committee.
	HGC publishes a Register of Members' interests and the chair of HGC expects members to declare relevant interests.

Improving Design Standards

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on how he intends to implement the recommendations in the joint OGC/CABE report, Improving standards of design in the procurement of public building.

David Lammy: We support the Office of Government Commerce/Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment report, and our design programme includes action plans to deliver its recommendations including:
	Raising the profile of design through HRH Prince Charles as the NHS Design Champion, Lord Hunt as ministerial design champion and design champions in NHS trusts,
	Partnering with key design bodies such as the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), The Prince's Foundation, the Kings Fund and others,
	Supporting the NHS by developing guidance, publications and training.

Laundry Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the role of effective laundry practice in preventing health care associated infections.

David Lammy: The prevention and control of infection is part of the overall risk management within the health care environment. All national health service organisations must ensure that they have effective systems in place to prevent and control health care associated infections and HSG(95)18 provides advice and guidance on the use of laundry practices to reduce the possible risk of infections. There is no central analysis of the role of effective laundry practice in preventing health care associated infections.

Levonelle

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he intends to take to prevent unauthorised sales of the contraceptive pill Levonelle.

Hazel Blears: The Pharmaceutical Societies of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have set professional standards and developed comprehensive guidance for pharmacists on the retail supply of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC). Under these guidelines pharmacists are required to deal with the request personally and to use their professional judgment to decide whether the supply is necessary and in the requestor's best interests.

Malaria

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of malaria were diagnosed in the UK in 2001; and what the cost was to the NHS of treating them.

Hazel Blears: 2,050 cases of malaria were reported in the United Kingdom in 2001. The individual cost of treating malaria is not available.

Medical Research Projects

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list Government funded medical research projects, their objectives and projected completion dates.

Hazel Blears: The main Government agency for medical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives its grant in aid from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, via the Office of Science and Technology. Details of 1,611 current projects funded by the MRC can be found www.mrc.ac.uk/index/current-research.
	Details of 782 on-going projects funded by the Department and the national health service can be found on the National Research Register at www.doh.qov.uk/research/nrr.

Medicines Control Agency

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are employed by the Medicines Control Agency at each major salary grade; what the total wage bill of the agency is; what its total income is from (a) charges and (b) other sources; and what plans he has to submit the agency to (i) greater control, (ii) closer scrutiny and (iii) enhanced accountability.

Hazel Blears: At 31 October 2002 MCA had a total of 522.5 full time equivalent (FTEs) employees. These are analysed by grade as:
	
		
			  FTEs 
		
		
			 Integrated payband 1 127.6 
			 Integrated payband 2 115.2 
			 Integrated payband 3 110.6 
			 Integrated payband 4 111.6 
			 Senior civil service 57.5 
			 Total 522.5 
		
	
	The salary costs of MCA are expected to be #22,248,000 for the year 200203. For the financial year 200102 MCA income from charges was #36,730,000. For the financial year 200203 the initial budget was set at #40,000,000. MCA's incomes comes entirely from charges so there are no other sources.
	On 13 June 2002, we announced that the Medicines Control Agency would be merged with the Medical Devices Agency from 1 April 2003, with improved governance arrangements, including a new post of chairman and non-executive members on the board. The new agency will be called the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Professor Alasdair Breckenridge, CBE, has been appointed as its chairman-designate, following an open competition.

Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with mental health problems detained due to a risk of suicide had a face to face assessment by a mental health professional within seven days of discharge from a hospital in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The information is not available in the requested format. However, preliminary data relating to the target set for patients with severe mental illness and/or deliberate self harm shows an encouragingly high rate of follow up by face to face contact with a mental health professional. Further work is being done to ensure that our strategy to prevent suicide is fully implemented.

Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mental health services following the introduction of the Mental Health Act 1999.

Jacqui Smith: Partnership arrangements under the Health Act 1999 have been available to National Health Service bodies and local government since April 2000. Since then, the Department has been notified of 44 partnerships involving mental health services. In addition, three of the first five care trusts were formed from mental health service providers.
	The use of the Health Act 1999 is also being monitored through the annual local implementation plan process and in 2002 information has been collected on joint planning and the use of the flexibilities. Just under 90 per cent. of all local implementation teams reported that they were involved in joint planning and half were making other use of the flexibilities.

Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what performance targets his Department sets for monitoring mental health services to deaf people.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has just concluded a wide consultation of mental health services for deaf people. Together with an expert group, it is considering the large number of responses received and will publish conclusions in the New Year. The arrangements for monitoring performance will be considered as part of this.

Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the length of time spent by GPs on mental health training;
	(2)  what proportion of (a) GPs and (b) practice nurses have received formal mental health training.

John Hutton: Information about the proportion of general practitioners (GPs) who have received formal mental health training is not collected centrally. However, all doctors are expected to have an understanding of the psychological factors that affect patients and have the knowledge and skills of assessment of the mental state of patients.
	The content of the general practice training curriculum is the responsibility of the joint committee on postgraduate training for general practice (JCPTGP), which is the competent authority for general practice training in the United Kingdom. The JCPTGP is an independent professional body, and it is required by section 9(3) of the Vocational Training Regulations 1997 to determine and publish the curriculum to be followed by a GP registrar (ie, a trainee GP). While not all GP registrars are required to spend a period of training in psychiatry, those who do may spend not less than six months or more than 12 months training in the specialty.
	The Regulations mentioned above specify seven competencies which must be tested, and which the curriculum must therefore teach:
	factual medical knowledge sufficient to enable the doctor to perform the duties of a GP;
	the ability to apply factual medical knowledge to the management of problems presented by patients in general practice;
	effective communication, both orally and in writing; the ability to consult satisfactorily with general practice patients;
	the ability to review and critically analyze the practitioner's own working practices and to manage any necessary changes appropriately;
	clinical skills; and
	the ability to synthesize all of the above competencies and apply them appropriately in a general practice setting.
	Therefore, GPs are expected to learn in training, the skills needed to deal with all their patients. As mental health issues are relatively common, GP registrars would be often exposed, while training, to the assessment, management and monitoring of patients with mental health problems.
	The General Medical Council's education committee has the general function of promoting high standards of medical education and co-ordinating all stages of medical education to ensure that students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice. As pre-registration house officers, all doctors, including those who will eventually become GPs, are expected to have training in the psychological and social factors that affect patients. As senior house officers, all doctors are expected to develop medical knowledge and skills of assessment of the mental state of patients.
	With regard to practice nurses, information about the proportion who have received formal mental health training is not collected centrally. Workforce development confederations are in the best position to understand local educational needs. Therefore, they work with National Health Service trusts, which are responsible for making decisions in which they balance development of existing staff and investment in training.

NHS Appointments (Political Affiliations)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each year since 1996 who have been appointed to a position within the NHS have declared a political interest, broken down by political parties; and what proportion of the total number of appointees this represents for each political party.

David Lammy: Information is not available in the precise form requested. The tables give the appointments made by Ministers to national health service bodies since the Government first took office in 1997, and the appointments subsequently made by the NHS Appointments Commission since it was established in 2001.
	
		Table 1: Secretary of State for Health appointments to NHS trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities from 2 May 1997 to 2 July 2001.
		
			 Political party Appointees Proportion of total appointments (percentage) 
		
		
			 Conservative 305 5.1 
			 Independent 54 0.9 
			 Labour 1,499 25.1 
			 Liberal Democrat 230 3.9 
			 Other 34 0.6 
			 Total declaring political interest 2,122 35.6 
			 Not politically active 3,842 64.4 
			 Total appointments for period 5,964 100.0 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Appointments Commission appointments to NHS trusts, primary care trusts, health authorities, strategic health authorities and care trusts from 2 July 2001 to 1 November 2002
		
			 Political party Appointees Proportion of total appointments (percentage) 
		
		
			 Conservative 143 5.2 
			 Independent 28 1.0 
			 Labour 599 21.9 
			 Liberal Democrat 111 4.1 
			 Other 16 0.6 
			 Total declaring political interest 897 32.8 
			 Not politically active 1,835 67.2 
			 Total appointments for period 2,732 100.0

NHS Direct

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the running costs of NHS Direct were in 200102.

David Lammy: In 200102, the running costs for NHS Direct were #98.6 million.

NHS Direct

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors, (b) administrators and (c) nurses are employed by NHS Direct.

David Lammy: NHS Direct employ approximately 2,500 (whole time equivalent) members of staff nationally. Of these around 1,050 are nurses, 470 call handlers, and 210 health information advisers. The remaining staff consists of managers, trainers, nurse supervisors and administration staff. Each of the 22 sites for clinical governance purposes employs a medical director (doctor).

NHS Direct

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients spoke to a doctor within an hour of contacting NHS Direct, in the most recent period for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The information requested is not collected centrally.

NHS Direct

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of callers to NHS Direct spoke to a qualified health professional in the most recent period for which figures are available.

David Lammy: Calls made to NHS Direct involving clinical symptoms result in the caller speaking to a qualified health professional. The remaining calls are health information inquiries that are dealt with by health information advisers.

NHS Litigation Authority

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many caseworkers are employed by the national health service litigation authority; and how many were employed in each year since 1998.

David Lammy: holding answer 2 December 2002
	As at 31 October 2002, there were a total of 93 caseworker posts within the national health service litigation authority. For the previous years, the numbers of caseworkers employed by the authority were as follows:
	
		
			  Number of caseworkers 
		
		
			 March 2002 76 
			 March 2001 56 
			 March 2000 39 
			 March 1999 16 
			 March 1998 8

NHS Professionals

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the proposed review of the workings of NHS Professionals.

John Hutton: An internal assessment team has been established to take stock of the progress to date on implementation of NHS Professionals. The assessment will include a review of the different approaches in the provision of temporary staffing and recommend the most viable options for continuing to deliver this service in-house.
	The assessment team will report their findings by mid December.

NHS Salaries

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-medical employees of the national health service were paid a salary of more than #80,000 in each year since 199798.

John Hutton: holding answer 9 December 2002
	Information in the precise form requested is not available because some sources do not distinguish between medical and non-medical staff. What information we have is in the table.
	The figures are for health authorities (HAs), national health service trusts, primary care trusts (PCTs) and special health authorities (SHAs).
	
		
			  HAs all staff and directors NHS trusts administration, others and directors PCTs administration, others and directors SHAs all staff and directors 
		
		
			 199798 153 324 Not applicable 36 
			 199899 215 399 Not applicable 45 
			 19992000 290 483 Not applicable 66 
			 200001 n/a 593 3 82 
			 200102 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Notes:
	Staff in HAs are not analysed into medical and non-medical in the accounts or summarisation forms. The figures include all staff employed in HAs although a number of these will be classified as medical.
	All figures include directors with remuneration over #80,000. However medical directors cannot be excluded from the numbers from the information available in the accounts or schedules, i.e., the numbers are inflated in terms of the question actually asked.
	Figures in health authorities in 200001 and in all bodies for 200102 are not available as they are not disclosed in the accounts or summarisation schedules.
	Sources:
	Health authority audited accounts 199798 and 199899
	Health authority audited summarisation forms 19992000
	NHS trust audited summarisation schedules 199798 to 200001
	Primary care trust audited summarisation schedules 200001
	Special health authority audited accounts 199798 to 200001

NICE

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his policy that compulsory NHS funding will not be required for older NICE-approved technologies where they are superseded by newer, more cost-effective and medically advanced NICE-approved treatments.

David Lammy: holding answer 5 December 2002
	The statutory funding obligation applies to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) technology guidance which is extant at this time. When NICE reviews it's earlier guidance it takes account of new technologies which may have emerged since the original appraisal.

NICE

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's recommendations to the NHS in England and Wales regarding the drugs donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Reminyl) are implemented at a local level.

David Lammy: Primary care trusts (PCTs) in England are under a statutory obligation to provide funding for treatments recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. We expect PCTs to meet these statutory obligations and will arrange to investigate allegations that patients are being denied treatment deemed appropriate by relevant clinicians.

NICE

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the National Institute of Clinical Excellence's decision-making process, with particular reference to the effect of the speed of its decision-making process on the United Kingdom pharmaceutical industry.

David Lammy: No. This is a matter for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence itself. The Institute reviewed its appraisal process in consultation with stakeholders in February 2001 and will carry out a further review in 2003. The Health Select Committee has also completed an inquiry into the work and processes of the institute.

NICE

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 512W, on NICE, if he will list the NICE appraisals that have received appeals.

David Lammy: The 19 technology appraisals that received appeals were:
	1. Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for depression and anxiety
	2. Cox -II inhibitors for skeletomuscular disease
	3. Docetaxel and paclitaxel for ovarian cancer
	4. Hip prostheses for primary total hip replacement
	5. Human growth hormone in adults
	6. Inhaler devices for treatment of asthma in older children
	7. Inhaler devices for under fives
	8. Interferon beta and glatiramer for multiple sclerosis (first appeal)
	9. Interferon beta and glatiramer for multiple sclerosis (second appeal)
	10. Irinotecan oxaliplatin and raltitrexed drugs for colorectal cancer (first appeal)
	11. Irinotecan oxaliplatin and raltitrexed drugs for colorectal cancer (second appeal)
	12. Laparoscopic surgery for hernia
	13. New advances in hearing aid technology for hearing disability
	14. Proton pump inhibitors for dyspepsia
	15. Riluzole for motor neurone disease
	16. Rituximab for follicular lymphoma
	17. Taxanes for breast cancer
	18. The use of the newer (atypical) antipsychotic drugs in treatment of schizophrenia19.Vinorelbine for breast cancer

Non-Barrier Textiles

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the extent of the use of cotton and other non-barrier textiles in operating theatres in the NHS.

David Lammy: Market data for 2001 indicates that approximately 50 per cent. of the textiles used in operating theatres in the national health service are made of cotton and other non-barrier textiles. The remaining 50 per cent. are made of high tech synthetic barrier fabrics and single use disposable products.

Occupational Therapy

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times are for occupational therapy services for children in (a) Birmingham health authority, (b) Birmingham and Black Country strategic health authority area and (c) England.

David Lammy: Waiting times for occupational therapy services for children are not collected centrally and therefore the information is not available.

Patient Discharge

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Ms King) of 28 November 2002, Official Report, column 413W, on patient discharge, what financial incentives the Community Care (Delayed Discharges, etc.) Bill places on the national health service to ensure that they tackle delayed transfers of care.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The national health service has clear incentives to reduce the time that people wait for discharge; not least because this frees up capacity to treat more patients who are waiting for treatment. The access and capacity targets and the monitoring of performance ensure that this is given a high priority. The provisions in the Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Bill will ensure that there are financial incentives for social services to play their part in providing community services where delays are their responsibility. In addition, from April 2004, the NHS will be introducing a new system of financial flows that will ensure that acute trusts do not benefit financially where patients are re-admitted to hospital within a set period.

Primary Care Trusts

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many PCTs have signed head leases on GP surgeries; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding reply 9 December 2002
	Primary care trusts have delegated authority to enter into head leases and to sublet to general practitioners and other tenants. However, the Department does not collect this information centrally and it is therefore not known how many premises PCTs have signed head leases for which are occupied by GPs or others.

Psychiatric Emergency Re-admissions

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the reasons underlying the failure to meet the public sector agreement of the rate of psychiatric emergency readmissions by April 2002.

Jacqui Smith: The psychiatric emergency readmission rate has been reduced from the baseline of 14.3 per cent. in 199798 to 12.7 per cent. at the last quarter of 200102. Further falls are expected with the implementation of community-based service models such as assertive outreach and crisis resolution.

Smoking

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of primary care trusts have a trained healthcare professional to support those wishing to give up smoking.

Hazel Blears: This information not collected centrally. All primary care trusts are required to make available smoking cessation services to support smokers who wish to quit. The services must be delivered by a trained adviser, usually a healthcare professional.

Treatment Agencies

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2002 to the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin), Official Report, column 597, if he will break down by treatment types the people in contact with treatment agencies.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 9 December 2002
	The table shows the numbers of drug misusers in treatment by type of service 200001.
	
		
			 Agency type Number of people 
		
		
			 In-patient 2,424 
			 Community: Specialist services 103,094 
			 Community: General Practitioners 8,180 
			 Structured day programmes 706 
			 Residential rehabilitation 1,902 
			 Others 2,216 
			 England total 118,522 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health Statistical Bulletin Statistics from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases on drug misusers in treatment in England, 200001.

Tuberculosis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spends on educating the public about prevention and awareness of tuberculosis.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 25 November 2002
	#324,471.59 was spent on this year's Tuberculosis Awareness campaign.

Waiting Times

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department has taken to reduce waiting times for admission to accident and emergency departments from ambulances.

David Lammy: The Government are committed to bringing down waiting times for all accident and emergency (AE) patients, no matter how they arrive at the AE department. By the end of 2004, virtually all patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at AE.
	If for any reason a patient who arrives by ambulance is not transferred in to AE within 15 minutes, the patient is nevertheless then treated as having arrived at AE for the purposes of measuring performance against the four hour target.
	Where local delays occur they can be addressed through emergency care networkswhich bring together all local participants in the emergency care system to iron out problems and spread good practiceand the emergency care collaborative, a new national programme aimed at reducing waiting times for all AE patients.